In Your Arms
by Tomato-cheeks
Summary: They have their on and off days. A near death incident involving Helo made Starbuck & Apollo realize what was important. Main pairing Kara/Lee. Slight Kara/Sam & Lee/Dee in early chapters. Friendship between Kara/Karl.
1. Chapter 1

**In Your Arms**

_Disclaimer: I don't own BSG and/or its character._

_Kara realized that Lee was the person she wanted to be with, but Sam was still waiting for her on Caprica. Lee eventually realized that in Kara's arm was where be belonged, but Dee was the woman by his side. An incident involving Helo brought the two closer together._

_Helo is a bit nosy, but it's all because he cared :)_

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><p>"Oh no you don't!" Kara's hands was waving around in front of her. Karl had a playful look in his face while he advances at the defensive Kara, tackling her flat on the gym floor.<p>

"Ow ow ow! Stop!" Kara was screaming and laughing uncontrollably as he tickled her on the sensitive spot only he can accurately hit. She lifted her knee and pushed him away, her abs were tense from too much laughing, while her breath were ragged, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible.

"Enough…" Kara told him, still panting.

"Buck… buck… buck…" Karl imitated a chicken, a smirk plastered in his face.

This time it was Kara who tackled him and nailed him down to the floor, or at least that was the intention, until Lee walked in just as Karl was landing, bringing Lee down with him, and pinning the smaller man to the floor.

"Oooowh!" Kara put her hand on her mouth as she realized Lee was sandwiched between Karl and the floor. She let out a laugh before saying "Oops"

"What's up, Apollo?" she was still sitting on Karl. Bemused, Lee frowned while trying to breathe.

"Starbuck, I think you need to start on your diet, Lee can't breathe here because you're too damn heavy" he smirked. Taking it as a challenge, Kara lifted herself up and slammed down on the two men, she actually felt sorry for Lee a little… just a little.

"I think you just broke my ribs" Lee commented, still trying to wiggle his way out. She grinned before lifting herself off them, claiming victory.

Lee tugged on Karl's arm, trying to move. Karl nodded an on the count of three both men got up to tackle Kara, bringing her to the ground. Limbs entwined, all three of them were out of breath, none made anymore move. In seconds they let out a hearty laugh. Any other day Lee would have scolded them for fooling around like little kids, but that day he was somehow feeling playful. Seeing Kara laughed like there were no worries in this world was something he longed to see.

Kara laid still as the two men moved, she savoured the moment, on one side was her bestfriend, her protective friend, her rock. While on the other was her other bestfriend whom she loved dearly. Lee Adama was more than just a friend to Kara, he was someone who drove her world crazy, someone who kept her alive, someone who made her world make sense. She felt guilty, Sam was still waiting for her on Caprica and her heart already belonged to someone else.

"You coming or are you just gonna lay there?" Karl asked while offering his hand. Lee was moving towards the punching bag, about to begin his workout.

"Coming" she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. She turned back to Lee and waved at him.

"Laters" she said as she walked out of the gym, Lee's lips curled into a small smile looking at her swaggering down the hallway.

"What's up with you and Apollo?" Karl asked without hiding the smirked that started to form in his face.

"What do you mean?" unknown to her, she smiled as he mentioned Apollo.

"Uh-huh… That…"

"Helo… stop it" Kara gave a light warning snarl.

"Does he know about this?"

"About what?"

"About your feelings for him" he lost the grin on his face then.

"Don't…" he warned him again.

"How about Anders?"

"What about him? He's dead" her blood boiled at the mention of his name, it was mainly guilt, grief and sadness all rolled into one.

"Then why did you promise him that you'd come back"

"I don't know, Helo. Can we stop talking about this already? You're ruining my mood" she glared at him. Karl only nodded and sighed.

"Just looking out for you" he mumbled.

Kara's mind summoned the memories of the day they first met, but she soon shrugged it off, one word… Dualla. They frakked, she cursed inwardly, mentally beating herself for being affected by it. She shouldn't have, she had Anders, but Dee was the reason why she had avoided one on one with Lee lately, she didn't want to be reminded that Dee was the one in Lee's arms, not her.

Back at the gym Lee was furiously attacking the punching bag. He had heard about Anders, and about Kara's promise. It made him feel… he wasn't even sure how he felt about that. He only knew there was a twist in the pit of his stomach each time the name was mentioned. Anders was the reason why he had been avoiding some alone time with Kara, he didn't want to hear her say anything about the other man.

The two of them had their on and off days, sometimes they'd get along well, like the world belonged just to the two of them, they fell into sync with one another. But most days they'd fight, like fire and ice, they'd argue until they had nothing further to say, or one or both of them ended up with bruises.

* * *

><p>"It's complicated!" Kara and Lee shouted in unison at Karl as he was trying to mediate the argument that erupted in the middle of a triad game. The rest of the table had either left or moved onto another group, trying to ignore the two.<p>

"You know what? Have it your way. I'm out of here! She's yours, Helo. I can't take it anymore!" Lee rose from his seat, and left the mess hall.

With a rumble she slammed her fist to the table, and cringed a little as pain shot through her knuckles. Everyone was suddenly quiet, heads turned towards the angered woman. Karl shot glances for others to return to their own business.

"Kara… let's go" he gently tugged on her arm. She fixed her gaze at the table, Karl tried to get her to budge, but when he realized what she was holding in wasn't anger, but tears, he quickly grabbed her and took her outside.

"What happened?" he asked. She was still facing downwards, her vision blurred by the accumulating tears.

"You saw what happened" she bit back the waterworks and faced Karl eye to eye.

"I saw you two about to tear each other's head off, yeah… but care to explain why?"

"He was being a jerk" she snorted, looking away from him. Slowly, she started to walk back to her quarter, Karl followed quietly.

"How's Sharon and the baby?" she asked, changing the topic.

"They're fine" Karl answered quickly, he knew her tactics. She had been different since she came back, not because of Anders, but because of what happened at the farm. It had been long enough for Karl not to catch Kara staring into blank walls, or drinking her troubles away, but it hadn't been long enough for her to be able to talk about it openly, or to stop having the nightmares. Kara may not notice, but despite the fights and arguments they frequently had, she seemed to be more grounded since Lee was by her side.

"I blew up at him" Kara suddenly said.

"That's new" he mocked her, adding a slight shoulder bump.

"What did he do?"

"Nothing… he did nothing…" she sighed as she paused. Karl recognized that look, it was the look Kara gave out whenever she realized something and did not like it.

"Oh frak" she cursed. Karl raised an eyebrow at his friend, perhaps he knew what Kara just realized.

"You're jealous" Karl was half asking, and half stating the obvious.

"He was… she was there… she's not even supposed to be there… They…" she couldn't put words together and just gave up. She looked at Karl in the eye, "You know what I meant" she stated as a matter of factly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Do I?"

"You know…" she grumbled at her frustration and stormed off, leaving Karl in the hallway, this time he didn't follow.

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><p>Karl had found Lee at the gym, dumping his energy away at the punching bag. The men shared nods as they acknowledge each other's presence.<p>

"I'm done" Lee indicated towards the punching bag as Karl put his gloves on.

"Thanks"

They quietly passed each other as they swapped places.

"How's Sharon and the baby?" Karl swore that was the only line up Lee and Kara's sleeves every time they wanted or did not want to talk, or simply had nothing to say but felt the need to fill the awkward silence.

"Sharon and the baby are fine. You and Starbuck on the other hand, need to sort your shit out" he turned towards Lee.

"Tell that to her, I've been trying" Lee put his gloves into his bags.

"Not hard enough"

Lee stopped in his track at that comment and paced towards the taller man, facing him directly, seeking his gaze and had a lock on it once he found them.

"I've been trying since day one. If she can't see it, it's her frakking problem! She's frakking hung up on a dead guy!"

"Anders..." Karl was going to say something but he bit it back, something in Lee's eyes sparked at the mention of Sam's name. It was brief, but Karl caught it and shook his head.

"Tell her…"

"Seriously! Sort your shit out! I'm not a messenger!" Karl cut him off and stepped away, suddenly didn't feel like training anymore, he'd go for a run instead, he decided.

"And certainly ain't a cupid!" he added as he walked out of the gym, not even bothering to take his gloves off.

Lee frowned at the last comment and shrugged it off. He quickly gathered his things and left, he knew Dee would be attending fighting class and he didn't intend to see her. He felt the guilt seeping in again, the guilt for being with someone else while yearning for another. But at that moment, avoiding her seemed to be the best approach to the situation.

The night prior at the mess hall was uncalled for. He felt guilty somehow, being with Dee in front of Kara, they may have acted like there was nothing between them, but everyone knew they frakked, including Kara. He didn't know when it started, all he knew was one moment he had a good hand, then another he snapped when Kara just wouldn't shut up about Anders.

"Oh frak!" he cursed as he walked out of the gym.

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><p>To be continued...<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you for the reviews :) My first reviews! ^^ Super excited._

_Btw, I thought I should mention it in case of any confusions, timeline in this story is different than the series._

_Anyway, the story continues..._

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><p>"What did you do to my bird?" Galen demanded answers when Kara came into the deck with her heavily damaged bird.<p>

"Gee, thanks Chief, I'm fine" she replied while sliding down the ladder. She soon realized how much damage her viper took and felt the tingle down her spine when she realized how close she was to the blast, a little too close for comfort.

"You can fix her, Chief" she gave her flip chart back to him after completing it, then her eyes darted across the deck frantically.

"Apollo checked in three minutes ago" Galen told her. Kara nodded in response before even realizing that she was doing it. She felt her heart clenched that Lee didn't wait for her like he'd normally do, especially after she was hit. _Still angry about the other day_, she thought, _typical Lee._

She shook her head and left the hangar, away from the chaos, she'd come back to her viper later, at that moment she just wanted a drink.

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><p>Drinking her anger and sorrow away was something Karl hated to see. He'd sit across the table, eyes looking for hers. Good thing no one as in the bunk room, it was quiet, and quiet was good. The two sat silently, staring at each other without saying a word. It seemed like their eyes did the talking.<p>

Kara lifted the bottle of Chief's brew, offering him some. Taking the cue, Karl found himself a glass and let Kara poured for him.

The metal clanking sound from the hatch broke the silence, but no one moved, until a small voice made Kara tensed.

"I'm… I'm looking for Apollo" Dee spoke from the entrance.

Kara locked her gaze on Karl, not wanting to lay eyes on the other woman. Karl understood and turned to face the visitor.

"Not here" he simply said before turning back to Kara. It was obvious Dee wanted to say something else, but the eerie stillness of the two of them had made her think twice, and decided to get away while she still could, closing the hatch behind her.

The two sat still for a moment before Kara's lips curled into a smile, then broke into laughter, followed by Karl's.

"Didn't know you could be so cold" Kara said between laughs.

"I learned from the best" he lifted his cup and toasted with her.

Karl's heart lifted as he saw the genuine smile behind Kara's eyes. He felt a sudden relief as his bestfriend even just momentarily had gone back to her usual self. Kara noticed the sudden ease and tilted her head sideways while lifting her glass again.

"Thanks for worrying, but I'll be okay"

"I hope so" he drank to that.

There was a pang of guilt to know that she had taken much of his time worrying about her, while he had other things to worry about and things to deal with.

"How about you, Helo? How are you holding up?"

Karl gave out a smile, even facing all her problems, she too, sensed Karl's baggage with Sharon being pregnant while in holding, he constantly worried about her and the baby's safety, then there was that other problem where everyone else turned their back on him. His carbon composite suggestion on the blackbird had given him a second chance in the ship, but there were still minorities who didn't like him. The label Cylon lover stayed intact.

"I've been better, but can't complain" he fixed his eyes on the glass in his hand, his thumb stroked the handle, while his thoughts flew to Sharon. He missed her terribly.

"She's tough, you know. She could break free if she wanted to" Kara cringed at the memories of Leoben's interrogation. Kara disliked Sharon for her nature, but she cared for Karl, and Karl loved this woman.

"She chose not to"

The two drank quietly again, this time Kara's mind wandered to Zak's funeral, then to her promise to Sam. She sighed, she'd go back to rescue him, she couldn't let another die… but she questioned the possibility of being with Sam, her heart wasn't in it anymore, courtesy of one Lee Adama.

"The President spoke to me" she broke the silence.

"Oh?" Karl moved forward and propped his elbow on the table.

"About rescue mission to Caprica. She gave the green light"

"And the Commander?"

"He authorized the mission"

Karl studied his friend's face as she poured another serving of the Chief's brew into each of their glasses.

"We'll get them" Karl placed his hand on Kara's, assuring her.

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><p>Lee closed the hatch behind him, leaving the Commander's quarter. The news brought mixed feelings in him. The Old Man had appointed him to lead the rescue mission to Caprica with Kara as his second in command.<p>

_Rescue mission… Ander's rescue…_

Without realizing, his fist had clenched so hard that it hurt. It wasn't the rescue mission itself that pissed him off, but it was the effect Anders had in him.

"Ah there you are!" Dee ran towards him and gave him a hug.

_Not now. _He mentally told her to go away, but his actions betrayed him, instead, he smiled and scooped her into a kiss.

"I've been looking everywhere for you" she said again, looping her arms around Lee's as they walked the hall.

Dee was good for him, he thought, Dee loved him, but no matter how hard he tried, his heart didn't belong to her. Again, his action betrayed his heart as he whispered loving words to the other woman's ear.

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><p>"So what was it?" Karl asked, Kara was in the middle of telling him the prank her pilot pulled earlier that morning, as they walked to the ready room for rescue mission meeting. Lee had requested Kara and Karl's presence to prepare for the the briefing later on that day.<p>

"Sorry" she heard someone muttered as her shoulder bumped with another pilot's. She nodded towards the man before she frowned, his face was familiar, but he wasn't part of Galactica's squad. She recognized him from somewhere… _Where?_

"Starbuck?" Karl called her, still waiting for the rest of the story.

"Hey…" she turned to call the pilot, but didn't finish her sentence, instead she pushed Karl aside, and automatically reached for her sidearm. The other pilot had his gun in his hand already, his eyes were burning with rage as he squeezed the trigger. Split seconds later, a loud bang filled the hallway.

Only moments before the pilot fired, both of them swore they heard him cursing Karl for being a traitor.

"Kara!" Karl scrambled towards her as she fell to the ground. One hand had gone for his sidearm, pointed to the shooter, who had fallen as well.

"Drop your weapon!" Karl shouted at him while he was still holding Kara. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her blood in his hand. The other man started to picked himself back up, Karl noticed blood on the side of his stomach, but it didn't stop him. He raised his gun again and pointed it to Karl.

"You deserve to die with them" there was so much hatred that Karl swore the hallway was dense with it. A minute movement of his hand gave Karl enough time to know that he'd have to fire, or he'd be dead. He brought his other hand to his gun and another bang filled the hallway.

Karl waited for the shot of pain or darkness to overcome him as he knew for sure his bullet never had the chance to leave the chamber. The pain or darkness never came, instead, the other pilot dropped to the floor. Karl looked down to see Kara's hand on her trigger, and she soon shook as she brought her hand back down.

Racetrack who had heard the shots ran towards them, hand on her gun, only to find two fallen soldiers and bloodied mess.

"What the frak..." she stopped on her track as soon as she saw Kara and the other pilot on the floor.

"Get medic!" Karl told her, he took the gun off Kara's hand. After securing the unknown pilot's weapon, Racetrack sprinted towards the nearest comm. station and patched through to life station.

"No, no, no, Kara! Stay with me!" Karl kept his hand on her wound, keeping pressure.

"Racetrack? What happened?" Lee ran towards her, having heard the shots from the ready room not too far away from where it happened. Lee liked being there at least ten minutes before his pilots turned up, it helped him to compose himself. He found Racetrack with sidearm still in her arm while she asked for medic dispatch. A few other pilots who were in the area and heard the shot had started to gather.

"Starbuck was shot, Sir" Racetrack informed him as she put the handset down. Lee bolted without further question.

His heard pounded when he saw Karl cradling Kara's head while his other hand was pressing on her wound. Then he saw the pool of blood and his world almost stopped moving. Kara's body shook as her hand clutched at Karl's, eyes searching for his.

"Helo…" she struggled, Karl nodded, "I'm here… I'm here" while keeping pressure on her wound.

Kara suddenly remembered where she had seen the shooter, he had always been on Karl's tail since his return from Caprica. He had given her the stare and glare for siding with him. Karl's suggestion on the blackbird didn't make him budge, instead he became angrier. Why, he asked then, not understanding why Karl was forgiven for loving such terrible being.

"S.. Spikey…" she whispered the pilot's callsign, and his name came to her mind soon after, Darius Harmon. She had read his name somewhere in her pile of reports. The pilot had come from Triton along with Crashdown. Harmon was an inexperienced pilot, Kara was meant to train him after the world ended, but his two failed tests in a row had got him dismissed as incapable in Kara's eyes. The only reason why he made it that far was because of his connection with the Commanding officer of Battlestar Triton, perhaps that was why she disliked him. How could she forget?

"Don't talk, you got him" Karl assured her, trying not to panic.

"Kara!" Lee skidded on the floor and in a second was on her side. His ands met Karl's in keeping pressure on the wound.

"Help is coming. Hang in there" he almost whispered. He pressed his forehead to hers, his heart was still pounding as he feared for her life, body trembling, losing blood, she managed a gasp before she closed her eyes and everything went black.

At that very moment it was like his whole world went dark with her. Lee knew for sure, he would not survive without her. The woman held his heart and lifeline in her strong hands, and if she died, he'd follow her.

"Kara, no!" he shouted. Karl squeezed the man's shoulder, the medic had arrived. Both men reluctantly let go as the medic tended to her and took her away. Another team of medic was on the offender's side, but he had died the moment Kara's bullet went through his head.

Lee noticed Karl's bloodied hands shook terribly as they stood, it was something he had never seen of the man before, he was always solid, he was Kara's rock to lean on when even Lee himself shut her out. This time it was Lee who steadied him, gave him assurance and comfort as their friend fought for her life.

"My fault… this is my frakking fault" Kara mumbled, his back pressed to the wall, eyes locked on the crimson stain on his hands.

"Helo… it's not your fault" Lee stood next to him, back pressed to the wall as well. Deep down he was on the edge of breaking, but with Karl in that state, Lee knew one of them would need to be the solid ground.

"The bullet was meant for me! That bastard wanted me dead… for loving Sharon!" he shouted this time, eyes filled with rage. He started to walk back and forth, before finally making his way to life station. Lee followed him, but stopped at a comm. station.

"This is Apollo, get me Actual" he kept his gaze on Karl until he disappeared around the corner towards life station.

"This is Actual" his father's voice answered.

Lee took a deep breath, his fingers massaged the bridge of his nose while his brain quickly scrambled a way to the Commander.

"We have a situation…" he paused, "Dad… Kara has been shot" he had no idea how else he was going to say it. There was a brief sharp breath intake from the Commander, before he told Lee that he'd meet him in life station.

Karl was already sitting in the waiting area, he had tried to get to Kara, but was denied access until she was out of crisis.

"They won't tell me anything" Karl was calmer now, but Lee could still see the shock. He took a seat next to him, his head was full of what if scenarios, he couldn't hear anything else but his own thoughts.

Only moments later, the Commander entered the facility, he too, was denied access to her. Looking at the shock stricken Helo and his son, he walked towards them.

"What happened?" he asked the two men. Lee looked up briefly before shifting gaze to Karl.

"She took a bullet for me, Sir" Karl's voice was shaky, but he tried his best to maintain his steadiness.

"And the shooter?"

"He died on site. Kara shot him"

Bill nodded, taking his glasses off and wiped them as he took a seat next to Lee.

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><p>Hours went past before Cottle exited the theatre and walked straight to the three men waiting for news. Each of them had taken turns in waiting during those hours. Both Lee and Karl still had to attend the rescue mission briefing. Much to their hearts' objections, their duties must go on.<p>

"She's stable. The bullet narrowly missed the heart. She'll live" the Doctor assured them.

Lee involuntarily pulled his father into a hug, which was welcomed by the Old Man. Karl's knee gave way and he sat back down as relief took over.

"When can we see her?" Karl asked.

"Come back in the morning. She's still under at the moment" Cottle lit a cigarette, he knew one or all three of them would have rushed to her as soon as possible. Cottle made sure there was a few hours window just to give Kara the extra rest she needed.

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><p>"Helo? Are you okay?" Sharon saw the look on his face as he lifted the handset, it was a look that Sharon would never want to see. She put her fingers through the mesh of the partition, touching the glass, where she met Karl's from the other side of the glass.<p>

"Something happened…" he locked his gaze on Sharon's. He loved this woman so dearly that it hurt when people just couldn't see that.

"Kara was shot" he didn't look away from her. Sharon gasped, her face showed genuine concern for Kara.

"How is she doing?"

"Stable…" he paused, "The bullet was meant for me" he added.

"Because of me?" she asked, her eyes filled with regret, she knew how much Kara meant to him, and how much she meant to the fleet.

"No… not because of you… because people don't understand" a drop of tear fell down his cheek.

"I love you, Sharon" he whispered, wishing he could hold her, could be by her side as the little bundle of joy formed in her womb. A comforting smile formed in her face,

"I love you too" she whispered back.

The two spent their precious minutes together in silence, just staring at each other, wishing they were in each other's arms.

"We're going back to Caprica" he mentioned before his time was up.

"For the rescue mission?"

"Yeah" he broke eye contact with her. Studying his expression, she understood.

"I will be fine, Helo"

"I can't have you go into a war zone. The baby…"

"Baby and I will be fine, trust me" her hand cradled her tummy again. She had started to clearly show her pregnant state a few weeks back, but it didn't stop her from being agile.

Karl sighed as he looked into the woman's eyes, there he found home, a place where he belonged, and without a doubt, he trusted her.

* * *

><p>"How is she?" Dee asked, but Lee knew it was more for courtesy instead of concern. There was a tone in her voice that said she was obliged to ask.<p>

"She's stable"

Dee's hands went to his shoulder, kneading the knots, trying to comfort him. But the only thing he felt was disgust to himself. He stood abruptly from his bunk, luckily no one else was in the quarter.

"I'm sorry… I need to be alone" he broke the silence.

Her brown eyes flickered, she knew he had this "connection" with the almighty Starbuck, but she had hoped that he would be content just being with her.

"Look, I need to get myself ready for the mission" his voice softened. Dee nodded and quietly made her way out of the quarter, she knew it was a battle she'd lose.

Lee laid quietly in his bunk, his mind kept playing Cottle's words over and over like a broken record. "She'll live" he convinced himself.

_I need you, Kara. _He mentally said the word.

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><p>To be continued...<p>

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><p><em>I hope you enjoy it ^^<em>


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for the reviews :) I'm always happy to read them and really appreciate it that you took the time to read and review the story ^^_

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><p>"Commander?" Karl knocked on the hatch to the Commander's office.<p>

"Come in, Helo"

Karl stepped in and quickly snapped into position.

"At ease, Lieutenant. Have a seat" Bill motioned towards the seat across from his desk.

The Commander sighed at the sight of the tensed Helo, he didn't blame him, someone just attempted to take his life, but instead, his bestfriend took the bullet, and had to endure a long fight for her life, a bad day would be an understatement.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Yes, about this search and rescue mission to Caprica"

"Yes Sir, I've relayed all information to Apollo…"

"That's not why I called you here, Helo" Bill stopped him.

"Sir?"

"I want to make sure you are up for it after what happened yesterday. I need to know that I am not sending my men on a highly dangerous mission without a fighting chance" he rested his hands on the table, waiting for his response.

"Sir, the survival chance for the people on Caprica is getting smaller and smaller the longer we wait. Starbuck's plan is solid. She would want us to go with or without her. I'm ready to go and so is Sharon"

The Commander kept his gaze on Karl as he kept quiet for a moment.

"Very well. Apollo will update you with the latest mission details. Good hunting, Lieutenant"

"Thank you, Sir"

"And Helo?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"I want your report on the incident on my desk before you leave"

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><p>"You look like shit" she greeted Lee as he came in to see her. Kara had woken up briefly at some ungodly hour that morning, feeling like she had been hit by a truck, disoriented, and terrified as she couldn't register where she was until the nurse came and gave her some drugs to calm her. When she woke again, fragments of memories started to come back. She remembered the shooting, she remembered pushing Karl aside, and she remembered that angry look on the young pilot's eyes as he fired. It was something Kara could never forget even if she tried. She learned from the nurse that Karl, Lee and the Commander had visited her religiously while she was out, and she also learned that she had lost over a day while she was asleep. The Starbuck persona, although very weak, was welcomed warmly by Lee with a smile. It broke his heart seeing her like that, she looked so fragile, it was almost like she had her life sucked out of her.<p>

"Look who's talking" he chuckled as he sat lightly on the edge of the bed, one foot on the ground. He couldn't sleep well since the day she got shot, thinking about her, worrying about her, and thinking about the mission. He didn't think Karl slept well either. He came running as soon as Karl gave him the news that she had woken up.

Kara smiled weakly as he took her hand in his. She dreamt about him earlier, and wished that she was still dreaming, because in that dream they were together.

"I'm glad you're okay" Kara noticed the relief surge his voice carried. He brought her knuckles to his lips and laid a gentle kiss before pressing her palm to the side of his cheek. Her heart fluttered at his touch, sending warm feeling through her. It was something only Lee could achieve. No number of kisses and loving words from any other man would have this effect on Kara Thrace, but at a touch from Lee Adama, she'd melt.

"It would take more than that to send me knocking down on Hades' door" she assured him, she remembered the horror in his eyes when he came to her side as she laid in Helo's arms, bleeding... it was a look that terrified her.

The two laughed lightly, despite the circumstances, it was one of the good days, when the world belonged to the two of them. It all happened so fast, Kara was lucky that the bullet missed her heart. Cottle said that she gods must've had plans for her, because despite the long and complicated surgery, everything went text book perfect.

"Cap… Caprica rescue mission?" Kara asked, her coarse voice was as weak as she looked. Lee tensed when she mentioned it, but he nodded.

"We're leaving at 1200 hours. Sorry Starbuck, looks like you're sitting this one out" he squeezed her hand as he said it.

"I'm not complaining" her eyes darted towards her wound.

"Helo will take your position…"

"Just… come back safely… please" she cut him off, gently tugging on his hand, her mind was in chaos, thinking of Lee, thinking of Sam, and thinking of Helo, but the same time, whatever Cottle had given her was starting to work, her eyes felt heavy.

Lee raised an eyebrow and his lips curled into a smile at her request.

"Will you miss me?" he teased.

"Always" she managed to answer before she drifted off to sleep. Lee sighed, his heart beat a little faster. He bent down to kiss her forehead and gently let go of her hand.

Inside, he was battling his own mental war. Once Anders was there, she'd be with him, once he was rescued, he'd be there for her. His fist clenched involuntarily. He marched to his office, if he couldn't bring himself to rescue Sam Anders out of the goodness of his heart, at least he could do it for her.

* * *

><p>"Are you okay?" Lee asked as he saw Karl standing by the raptor, they were preparing to leave for the rescue mission. He took a deep breath as he saw Sharon walked into the deck with guards. He still flinched at the sight of his pregnant wife, and at the thought of her being on the rescue mission, but Sharon's face showed no worry, <em>she knew her limit<em>, Karl assured himself. He trusted her judgement.

"I'm fine... are you?" he turned to face Lee.

"I'm good and ready to go"

Lee gave him a small smile of assurance, he trusted him, he knew he could count on the man. With a solid nod, he tapped the other man's shoulder.

"Let's do this"

* * *

><p>"How is she, Doc?" Bill was the last one to pay a visit, he decided to wait and let the boys catch up with her first. Cottle took a puff from his cigarette as he opened a folder with Kara's name on it.<p>

"Peaceful… for now… not sure about it after she finds out that she'd be grounded for about three weeks though"

"So she'll fully recover?"

"You'll have your pilot back, Commander"

Bill walked towards Kara's bed, the curtain drew open as a nurse walked out with bloodied bandages on her tray.

"Hey Boss" Kara nodded when she saw Bill reaching the end of her bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot" she added a smile that brought relief to the Commander's face. She was still weak and sleepy, but the feisty woman underneath was definitely present.

"So when can I get back into the cockpit, Doc?" she rolled her head to her side and faced Cottle.

"Kara… let's concentrate on getting you better first" Bill put his hand on her wrist.

"Nuh… " she cleared her throat, "I'd like to know how long I'd be stuck with paperwork" she started to slur, another effect of that nice stuff the nurse just gave for her pain.

"Three weeks" Cottle answered. Kara looked at him, pissed off, but had not much energy left to express that anger. She managed a snort.

"Get some rest, Starbuck, that's an order"

"Rescue mission…" Kara fought the drowsiness that had kicked in, squeezing her eyes before opening it again.

"Any words?" she managed to ask, she realized it had only been a few hours after they left, but she just needed to ask, she needed to know.

"Not yet" Bill answered briefly. He gave her a kiss on her forehead before moving away from the bed.

"Get some sleep" he told her gently as he drew her curtain close.

* * *

><p><em>CAPRICA<em>

"Samuel T Anders?" Lee approached the taller man. Karl stood behind Lee, eyes alert for any enemies around while the rest of the crew greeted the other survivors.

"Call me Sam" he extended his hand. Lee gave him a firm handshake.

"Good to see you again, Helo" he added and gave Karl a quick nod.

"I'm Captain Lee Adama from Battlestar Galactica. We have marines and raptors, we're taking you back to Galactica with us"

Lee caught a glimpse of something shiny around his neck, and soon realized what it was... there, around Sam's neck, was Kara's dogtag... Lee involuntarily tensed at the sight of it.

"We don't have much time, Apollo" Karl reminded him before his gaze shifted to Sam,

"Where are the rest of your men?" he asked, knowing that there were more of them.

"They're all with us. Our base got hit this morning, we lost a lot of people" Sam tried to hide his sadness and regret for the lost souls, but Karl knew that he cared deeply for them, and losing them had been a huge impact on the man. Sam's eyes scanned the Galactica team, looking for the blonde feisty woman he knew before he turned to face Lee,

"Is Kara Thrace with you?"

"Unfortunately no, she's unable to take part in this mission due to recent attack. You will get to see her once abroad Galactica"

"Incoming!" Sharon shouted, warning them, before explosions sent some of the resistance fighters forward.

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><p>To be continued<p>

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><p><em>Sorry for the lack of action, but I feel that it needed it in order to progress. Thank you for reading ^^ I hope you enjoy it.<em>


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing :) I really appreciate it :)_

_Due to the length of this chapter, I'm posting two chapters this time._

_Spoiler: Lay Down Your Burdens_

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><p>"I heard Kara woke up this morning" Laura commented as she greeted Bill onboard Colonial One.<p>

"Yes, she did"

"How is she doing?"

"She's doing well. Definitely still being Starbuck… but a lot tamer thanks to Cottle's cocktail"

Laura gave a chuckle as she imagined how Starbuck could be considered tame, she'd kick up a fuss if she ever heard that. The two sat on the more comfortable chairs instead of at Laura's desk, it was after all, a late night visit.

"So what brings you here, Commander?"

"About the incident yesterday…" he paused as he shifted in his seat

"You think there are groups of people organizing more attacks?" she cut in before he could finish. Bill knew she'd catch on very quick, although it wasn't exactly what was in his mind, but she got it quite close.

"Not necessarily, this may just be one man behind the shooting, self initiated… but what I'm saying is, he may not be the only one who would do such thing… Somewhere down the line, I wouldn't be surprised if someone else would make an attempt to hurt Helo and, or our Cylon prisoner"

"We are keeping a very tight lid on it" Laura assured him.

"I'd hate to see more people get hurt" he added.

* * *

><p>"It has been eighteen hours… What the frak are they up to?" Lee talked to himself as he kept watch. Karl stood from where he sat and went to stand next to Lee, taking a peek from a narrow hole of whatever was left of the building they took shelter in.<p>

The Cylons had them, they were cut off from their way back to their raptor, and forced to take shelter in the remains of what seemed to be like a destroyed fort, providing minimal cover from the attacks. When they thought they would never see Galactica again, the shooting stopped, and eighteen hours of silence later, they seemed to have disappeared.

"They could've hit us easily during the night" Lee mumbled again.

"What do you think?" Karl asked.

"I don't know, we'll put a recon team together and we'll see what's going on"

* * *

><p>"So what's the verdict?" Kara threw Cottle a smirk. She looked and felt better than yesterday, at least this time she had the energy to be angry.<p>

"You'll live, Starbuck" he put the clipboard back to the slot at the end of the bed.

"Three weeks?" Kara repeated what he said yesterday.

"Make that four if you're being reckless"

"I'm stuck with the damn paperwork for three frakking weeks? To hell with painkillers, Doc, I'd need anti-depressant" perhaps it was the pain that made her extra grumpy, or the constant worry for Lee and Karl… or perhaps the anxiety about meeting Sam again… or maybe it was all of the above.

"Rest, Starbuck. You'd need it if you intend to get back into your viper faster" he injected another fluid into her IV line and hoped that it would work fast before she wreck havoc in life station.

* * *

><p>"What do you see?" Karl stopped on his track behind Lee. Three marines were crouching in front of them, keeping their eyes out for any sight of the enemies… but there was only that eerie stillness of the woods. The resistance fighters had followed them out of their hiding place and started to scan their surroundings. They saw nothing but trees. No Centurions, no skinjobs… just trees…<p>

"They left" Lee said in disbelief, his gaze went from Karl, then to Sharon who looked as confused.

* * *

><p>"No! No! No! Lee! Don't leave!" Kara screamed as she woke. The curtain drew open immediately, a nurse grabbed her hand firmly, trying to prevent her from hurting herself during her trashing.<p>

"Lee!" She kept calling. Her eyes started to focus, the fluorescence light, the smell, the humming sound were all familiar, a moment later the nurse's words started to make sense, and she soon realized where she was. The nurse gently squeezed her arms before she let go, Kara only nodded, while trying to get her breathing back to normal.

It was only then, she noticed another figure standing next to her bed. Karl? No, that wasn't him. Lee? Wasn't Lee either…

"Sam?" her coarse voice came out almost a whisper as she finally recognized the tall figure standing next to her bed.

* * *

><p>To be continued<p>

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><p><em>Sorry that this is short, but by the time you finish reading this, next chapter is up ^^<em>


	5. Chapter 5

_Welcome back! :)_

_Spoiler: Lay Down Your Burden_

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><p>"Sam?"<p>

The man looked rather hurt that she had been dreaming about and calling another man's name, Lee's name none the less… the man who rescued him, but he managed a smile. He missed her while they were apart, and before that day he thought that he would never laid eyes on her again.

"Hey…"

Kara smiled back at him. They did it, she thought. _Praise the Lords of Kobol, they are back! _She said a silent prayer. _Wait! They're back? How long was I out?_

"Sam! You… You're here!" she tried to sit up, but he moved to prevent her, and gave her a hug instead. He clutched onto her for a moment, just taking it all in, the fact that he finally reunited with her. Kara let out a sigh of relief, holding onto Sam, simply grateful that he was there.

"Hey… you okay?" Karl asked when he saw Lee standing around the corner near the exit, looking towards Kara's bed, witnessing the two reunited. He just finished de-briefing from the Caprica rescue mission, and was just about to see her, to let her know that they were back, but the C-Bucs Captain had beaten him to it. Sam, in Kara's arms, the place Lee wanted to be, the embrace he had been longing for, _it has started._ There was agony in his heart as he watched the two. Lee finally turned to face his friend, Karl could see the hurt in his eyes, which he hid with a shrug.

"I see that she knows we're back" he simply said before leaving life station. Karl watched the man walked out. He sighed, and returned his gaze back to Kara and Sam, they have parted then, only Sam was looking disappointed, and Kara put her head down before saying something… something that looked a lot like an apology from where Karl was standing, followed by a slump of Sam's shoulder. The man took something off from around his neck, a dogtag, Kara's dogtag. He placed it in his hand and held onto it briefly before putting it back around her neck. With no further words, the man turned towards Karl. As he was nearing to Karl, he nudged his head towards Kara,

"Make sure she's okay, will you?" he said with a genuine concern before he turned towards the exit. Karl raised an eyebrow and what he just witness, and walked towards Kara's bed like what he intended to do.

"Hey… so the plan worked, huh?" she said as Karl got to beside her bed. Karl's eyes were still fixed at where Sam just disappeared into.

"What just happened?" he turned to face her, but finger was pointing towards the exit, ignoring Kara's previous question. Her hands were playing with the dogtag she just got back.

"I can't keep it up anymore" she simply said, her eyes held sadness that only Karl could understand.

"You broke the man's heart" it was a statement, not a question. Karl dragged a seat and planted himself there, while leaning forward to park his elbows on the edge of Kara's bed.

"I feel better" she said before Karl even asked.

"The wound or Sam?" he asked almost jokingly. Kara threw him a glare, and he knew she meant Sam.

"Are you going to do anything about Lee?" came the much dreaded question. He expected another death glare, but she just sighed, used her pillow to support her back, and repositioned herself to a more comfortable position. She was more awake then, perhaps the sleep inducing medicine had finally worn off.

"I just booted Sam, I don't really want to think about what to do with Lee yet, and he's with Dee in case you've forgotten"

"Fair enough"

"Helo?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to keep this quiet for now, the last thing I need right now is people gossiping"

"You have my word. If people know about it, they didn't hear it from me" he added a smile. Kara frowned, studying her friend's expression, there was worry, there was… Trouble…

"What actually happened down there, Helo?"

He sighed, so he was that transparent in her eyes, he almost laughed.

"They had us, Kara. The Cylons…" he paused for a heartbeat, "We were cornered, cut off from the raptors. They could have taken use easily"

"And?"

"That's it… they didn't"

"And now you're worried that it was the Cylon's plan after all?"

"Not worried, I know. Since when did they leave us alone after they had us within their grip?" he sighed again. He questioned Sharon over and over again about it, why did the Cylons left, but she didn't know, if anything, she was terrified and suspected that it may have something to do with their unborn baby.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked, concerned for her friend.

"Yeah… I will be. We're here. The resistance fighters are here. They have you to thank for that" he went quiet for a moment. He just needed someone to talk to, but more importantly, he needed to take his mind off things even just momentarily. His hand went to his pocket and took out a deck of cards. Kara's eyes gleamed at the sight of it.

"Fancy a game?" he asked while holding the deck up.

"Be prepared to lose, Helo" her lips curled into a smile.

* * *

><p><em>Eat! <em>Lee willed himself to put food in his mouth, it had been three days since they got back from Caprica, and he had been overworking himself, burning his candle on both ends in order to divert his mind from missing Kara. Lee had been staring at his food for awhile. He no longer had the appetite, everything since he came back tasted so bland. No matter how hard he tried to be angry at the scene he saw at the life station and came home to Dee, he couldn't. The vision of Sam in Kara's arms played in his head over and over again. It wasn't fair, he longed to be in her arms.

Why did he even agree on continuing the mission without Starbuck? When his father pointed him to lead, he had asked why not her? It was Kara's plan after all, why did he need to lead? In truth he felt like a little kid throwing a tantrum over something he didn't agree on. His father told him it was because he needed them all to come back alive. It was a highly dangerous mission, he wasn't going to send any team out there without the best man to lead. He was the only person who could keep Kara's insane ideas in check, and she was the only person who would challenge his judgment. When Kara got shot, he had requested the mission to be postponed, but was protested by Karl, who believed that she had fought far too long for this to be approved, she wouldn't want them to stop because of her, she couldn't let them die. Karl knew the plan as well as Kara did, he helped her wrote the plan. He was down in Caprica for longer than her, and he knew the resistance fighters as well. People's lives were depending on them. Karl wouldn't let the shooting stand in the way of the mission, he owed it to her.

A nudge to the table as someone sat down across from him brought him back to reality. He looked up and found the very person he had been avoiding in front of him.

"Hey… what are you… you're not supposed to be here"

The woman sat across from him, ignoring what he just said.

"If I don't come here, I don't get to see you at all"

"Dee…"

"Don't you dare" she snarled, enough to make other officers turn quiet.

"Do you really want to have this conversation here?" he lowered his voice. She just stared at him, her eyes were filled with anger, jealousy and distrust.

"Would you have it anywhere else?" she finally asked.

Lee stood from his seat, and waited for her to get up before making a move outside of the mess hall.

"What was that?" Lee asked once they reached an empty hallway.

"I didn't hear a word from you since you got back. I looked everywhere for you, I even went to your office and someone would always passed on the word from you, telling me that you're busy"

"Well that's probably because I was! I am the CAG, in case you've forgotten!" his patience was wearing thin. His head pounded as his heart pumped faster.

"Ah! Of course… but not too busy to see Starbuck!"

Lee went quiet at that, he had gone to see Kara once since they got back three days ago, but they didn't talk much, he missed her, he just needed to see her, and she was in too much discomfort to care about the lack of words exchanged between them.

"Don't give me the 'She's my friend' speech. I saw you with her before your rescue mission!" it was a good day, he thought, that day she gave him what he needed to lead the rescue mission.

"And I know you've made time to see her between your shifts after you got back" her eyes were tearing up by then.

"So what, Lee? Am I just 'in the mean time' girl? Huh? I'm no pilot, but I am a good woman! So look me in the eye and tell me you want to be with me, that you have no feelings for her. Don't be with me when deep down you want to be with her!" she demanded. It was a side of Dee that he had never encountered before, it was just what he needed to confirm what he wanted.

When he stayed quiet, Dee closed her eyes and shook her head before moving away.

"Goodbye Lee"

* * *

><p>To be continued<p>

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><p><em>Thank you for reading :) I hope you enjoyed it.<em>


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you for reading and reviewing. I had some trouble uploading this chapter so I hope this turns out okay._

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><p>"Lee?"<p>

Not completely playing attention, Lee found himself staring at the glass of whiskey his Dad had poured for him. He muttered an "Oh" before he shook his head and started to pay attention again.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine... Sorry, I'm just exhausted" he quickly took a sip out of his glass.

"Understandable, I hope you're feeling better after what happened. Just make sure you're back on top shape for duty soon"

"What happened?" Lee frowned at his father.

Bill stared at his son's eyes, within seconds, Lee knew he was referring to his quarrel with Dee.

"This is still my ship, Son. I know what's going on... Plus, half the ship probably heard your argument whether they wanted to or not" he answered before Lee had the chance to ask. Lee's face turned red as he took another sip from his glass, no, make that a gulp.

"Sorry"

"Word of advice, next time, make sure you're in somewhere private" Bill paused as he studied his son's expression.

"Now... about the other matter..."

"What other matter?"

"Darius Harmon" Bill sighed as he opened his record in his hands. Such young soul, lost... angry... wasted... Bill's heart wept at the reality of it.

"We need to make sure this doesn't happen again" he added, Lee nodded in agreement.

"Noted" Lee understood the gravity of the situation, if words got out of control, they'd be dealing with more than just a single man on rage. He had started running through pilots' histories and psychological records, hoping to catch them early and avoid it in the future.

"One more thing, Lee" the fact that it wasn't a formal conversation made Lee nervous, especially when his father used that tone with him.

"What?"

"Kara"

"She's doing fine, Dad. I went to see her a few days ago"

"I did too, and that's not what I wanted to talk to you about"

_Here we go. _Lee knew where his father was going with this. The frat reg had been changed only a few weeks back, allowing relationships between officers, but the Commander and his XO clearly showed how they felt about the matter. Just because it was approved, didn't mean that he had to like the change.

"Nothing happened between Kara and I" he cut him off.

"I didn't say anything did, but whatever it is, it was enough to cause the quarrel"

Lee gulped the rest of his drink and put his glass on the table before he stood. He couldn't stand this anymore, he just split with one woman, and already he was at the receiving end of a lecture about another. He needed a break, a time for himself, time to figure out what he really wanted and how he was going to move on.

"She was Zak's..."

"Look Dad... You don't have to worry. I won't jump another man's woman. She's with Anders now. So if you'll excuse me, I have some errands to run. Thank you for the drink" he really didn't want to get into the Zak topic.

Bill sighed and watched his son left the quarter.

"Well... she gave Anders the boot" Bill whispered to himself. _Sometimes ignorance is bliss._ His fingers went to massage his temples as he tried to take it all in. He didn't have to like the frat reg change to agree to it. The crew needed it, it was a piece of freedom they had left. Most of them had lost their loved ones, and to that Bill felt lucky that he still had Lee and Kara. As much as he was against the change, he knew he'd have to move forward. Zak was another matter, Bill loved Kara like his own daughter, but to have Lee taking Zak's place in Kara's life was something he would need a lot of time adjusting to.

* * *

><p>"Good news, my lady... You're out of here" Karl added a wide smile.<p>

"Did you hit your head? Since when did you consider me a lady?" Kara cringed as she tried to put her tanks back on. Karl moved to lend a hand straight away.

"Never too late to start, don't you think?"

"You're in an awfully good mood this morning. What happened?" she gave him a suspicious look. Karl tugged her second layer of tank down and got closer to her ear.

"We're having a girl" he whispered, his eyes gleamed as he pulled back and faced Kara again, and a wide smile seemed to be plastered permanently on his face since the second she saw him that day.

Seeing how happy he was, Kara couldn't help but to be excited. She had not seen her bestfriend in such a happy mood since the end of the worlds, then she got shot, she was afraid that he'd spiral down to depression, so seeing him happy was a real blessing.

"Gods! That's amazing! Congratulations!" she moved to give him a hug, carefully, while making sure she didn't hurt her shoulder. The man hugged her back, savoring the rare moment of joy for awhile.

"So let's get you back to your bunk" he helped her put on her sling.

"Have you seen Lee?" she asked as she pocketed the vial of pain killers from the Doc. It would be her bestfriend for awhile.

"Not since yesterday evening, he looked rather distracted. Has he come to see you?"

"He did a few days ago, didn't talk much though, I thought he may have said something to you"

"Nope. I only saw him yesterday just as I was turning in, I didn't have a chance for a talk"

The two made their way out of life station when another man almost bump head to head with Karl.

"Hey... ah... I heard you're discharged today..." Sam stopped them in their tracks, "Well... I... was... I thought I'd come to see you if need any help at all" he added. Karl turned to Kara before turning back to Sam, while Kara just stared at him.

"Well... I see that you have everything under control..." he turned away, a little disappointed, but relieved at the same time. He wouldn't deny that he still loved her despite what happened, but he genuinely wanted to help her.

"Thank you... Sam" Kara quickly said before he walked away. She waited until he was far enough away before she turned to Karl with a question,

"What is he doing in uniform?"

"He enlisted yesterday apparently... something about making himself useful. I was going to tell you this later, but since we're on the topic, you'll have the joy of training him to be a pilot"

"Oh gods... good thing I'd be stuck with paperwork..." she paused for a moment, "On second thought, I'd take him as my nugget than the paperwork"

* * *

><p>Kara had twenty four hours off before she had to report back to duty, and take over some paperwork from Lee while she was grounded. She never thought she'd miss her little bunk, but she did. The life station reminded her a little too much of the farm. Karl dropped her and her belongings off and kept her company before he had to be on duty. She learned more about their mission on Caprica then, and found that how Sam had lost many men that morning, which Kara regretted for not coming sooner.<p>

After all day of walking around and doing a bunch of nothings, she retreated to her quarter, thinking she'd catch some quiet time. The metal clanking sound startled her as she was deep in her thoughts. She was about to draw her curtain closed, but her hand stopped at the sight of the person entering the quarter. She didn't expect to see him just yet, somehow a part of her screaming for her to run before she frakked it up, but as he walked in, his blue eyes traced her from her toes to her eyes, where he finally rested. The urge of running dissipated as soon as their eyes connected, she no longer wanted to run away from him, she wanted to run to him.

"Are you coming in?" Kara asked, noticing that Lee had been standing with the hatch still opened, and staring at her.

"Huh? Oh... Yeah..." Lee sheepishly closed the hatch and walked towards his bunk, across from Kara's.

"You're looking better" he commented.

"Thanks, pain killer helps... a lot"

Kara looked at the man, he was exhausted, dark under eye circles were more visible since the last time she saw him, she could tell with one look that he had been stressed.

"Are you okay?" Kara hated to see him like that.

"Just tired" he lied. He was beyond tired. After his breakup with Dee he had been working non-stop, trying to keep his mind off things, mainly from Kara and the reminder of how much of a jerk he was to Dee. On any other day he may push Kara away, but that day he could use her company.

Kara went towards his bunk and plopped herself on his bed, sitting at the edge of it. Still standing, he looked down at her, and a little smile formed on his face. Lee dropped and sat in his bunk, legs stretched behind her. She moved and pulled her legs in, stretching them next to him, and let his arm dropped over them.

"I'm bored" she chirped.

"I can give you my paperwork" he answered with a smug.

"No thanks. That's tomorrow's problem" she stood and walked towards her locker. Lee watched peacefully as she rummaged through her things. He was simply happy she was there with him.

"Aren't you on painkillers?" Lee commented at the bottle of Chief's brew and the couple of glasses she cradled, having a sling made it a little more challenging, but she managed.

"And? It didn't stop me before" she casually sat back down where she was before and handed him the glass. Karl would have a fit if he saw her with the bottle in hand. Lee sighed as she opened the bottle.

"If we're going to do this, at least do it with the good stuff" he took the bottle of her hand and replaced the cap. _Helo is so going to kill me for this._

"My locker, top shelf, under my clothes" he said. Kara stood and went to his locker as he instructed. Her hand reached under his clothes, but didn't find anything, she just shot Lee a questioning look.

"Towards the back of it" he added.

Kara reached further until her hand came in contact with something cool, a bottle of something. She pulled it out and this time she shot Le an amazed look as she closed the locker door.

"Lee Adama! You have a secret stash!" she took the bottle of whiskey to his bunk and sat back down. Lee grabbed hold of the two glasses as she poured.

"Cheers to you for surviving the shot. Please do not repeat that again" he leaned forward and brought his glass up. Kara smiled and leaned towards him, bringing her glass up close to his, but not touching it.

"Cheers to you for your successful rescue mission" she tapped her glass on his. Lee twitched at it, the rescue mission. And to make matters worse, Anders was in the pilot training program, but he didn't care then, she was there with him at that moment, no Anders, just Kara.

"Oh that's good stuff" Kara savored the taste.

"Indeed"

The two sat quietly again, he had been doing that lately, just enjoying her company without saying a word. Perhaps he was afraid that if they talked, the conversation would drift to Anders.

There was another metal clanking sound again as the hatch opened, a few pilots came into the room having just finished their CAPs. Lee leaned further and grabbed the side of the curtain and pulled it towards him, encasing them in the small confined of his bunk, lit by only a single lightbulb. Kara bit back a smile as he looked at her with that possessive look. Didn't matter, if he had not pulled the curtain, she would have. She just wanted to be with him, perhaps not necessarily to talk, but just to have his presence.

"Thank you… Lee…" she whispered, "For going ahead… and for being here" she added.

He twitched again, he didn't deserve that. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have found the courage to save Anders. He grabbed Kara's hand instead, and gave a light squeeze.

"I'm glad you're here, Kara" he whispered back to her.

As the two drank quietly, enjoying the peaceful environment the curtain provided them, Kara started to remember why she shouldn't drink while on medications. _Damn it! Already?_ She cursed silently as she started to feel tipsy.

She sat still for awhile, then with some effort she secured the empty glass on the ledge above Lee's bed and went to give him a bone crushing hug to Lee's surprise. He stared blankly as the woman cradled in his arms. He put his glass aside and hugged her back, one hand went to her head, caressing her blonde hair.

"Are you okay?" he asked, whispering to her ears. Kara nodded slowly, nuzzling into his neck. Maybe it was the alcohol and medication reacting, or perhaps it was just the comfort of Lee's arms that made her felt so secure and relaxed.

The pilots rampant soon became somewhat a blur as they listened to each other's breathing pattern, feeling each other's heartbeats against their skin.

_Tomorrow she'll go back to Sam_. It hurt him like a million needles piercing his heart even just to think about it, but he needed to face it.

_Let me have just this one night, tomorrow he'll be back with Dee. _Kara cried in the inside as the thought came.

_For now, we could just stay like this_. No Sam, no Dee… just Lee and Kara, needing each other's comfort for a moment.

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><p>To be continued<p>

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><p><em>Thank you for reading, guys. I hope you enjoy it :) This chapter was quite challenging for me to write.<em>


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you for reading and for the review :)_

_It actually took me awhile to write this chapter, I had several alternatives to this before I decided which one I wanted to go with. Anyway, I hope you like it._

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><p>"Frak!" Kara put aside a stack of folder before pulling another towards her. Kara Thrace hated paperwork, it was one of the main reasons why she'd avoided the role of CAG at all cost. Since Lee had been picking up her shifts, he had been very behind on his paperwork, and as much as Kara was thankful that he did that for her, she'd still prefer taking on CAPs one armed.<p>

A light knock gave Kara the perfect excuse to get away from the mountain of hell in front of her, she was grateful to welcome other matter into her hands, anything to get her away from those evil paperworks, not to mention the flight schedule… _Frak! Flight schedules!_

"Bad time?"

Kara looked up at the man she considered a father, standing quietly by the hatch, she could tell he was holding back a smile. It wasn't every day the Commander saw the almighty Starbuck defeated by a stack of paper. She sighed in relief, finally, someone to whisk her away from the boring task.

"Good time as any, Sir" she answered with a smile. Bill stepped in and took a seat on the empty seat on the other side of the desk.

"How are you doing?"

Kara leaned back in her seat and took a deep long breath as she looked at the mountain of work still to be done.

"Swamped. I'd take on Cylons anytime. Paperwork is a whole different level, Sir" she ran her fingers through her hair. _Not to mention almost everyone was being weird to me, _she mentally added. Since she reported for duty this morning some of the pilots had been looking at her in a way that she couldn't decipher. Was it pity? Was it hatred? She couldn't put a finger on it. Hotdog was nice to her, helping her carry things to the CAG's office, but when she asked, he just shrugged and told her it may be because of Spikey. Kara took his word on it.

A chuckle came from the Commander,

"Yeah, sorry Starbuck, until your shoulder is sorted, you're…"

"Stuck with it" they said in unison.

"I know… Good way to keep my mind of things, I suppose" she admitted.

Bill leaned back as he studied her expression.

"I read your report on the incident" he paused and looked at her in the eye.

"You gave a nice report for someone who put a bullet in you"

Kara took a deep breath as she leaned back on the chair, she knew the question was coming.

"He was… a blip on the radar. I had one look at his record, and I put it aside. He wasn't fit to be a pilot, I saw that. But I failed to see the growing unhealthy rage in him. I should have noticed, and I think it was my fault that he got that far. I should have picked up on it sooner" she put her head down. Kara did feel responsible for what happened. Had she paid more attention at his relentless tries to talk to her, had she paid more attention to his snide remarks against Karl, she could have done something. He may not have anything to say that would change her mind about his flight status, but she could at least listen. But no, she didn't think he was worthy of the wings, hence he was no longer her problem. Why he stuck around, perhaps because no one had told him to leave and he had nowhere to turn.

"It wasn't your fault, Starbuck" he feared that she might felt that way.

"Was it not? If it was you, he'd still be alive right now"

"You've done your best. I trust your judgment, and if you didn't pick up on it, I doubt any of us would" he reached and gently laid his hand on hers.

"You're the finest pilot I have ever seen, Kara. Don't forget that, and I trust that you will make good pilots out of them" Bill pointed at the nuggets' records. Sam was filed in there somewhere.

Kara smiled, both father and son invested a lot of faith in her, and sometimes she wondered if she deserved it after what she did to Zak.

A knock on the hatch made her look up at the man who bore a resemblance to the Commander. Lee stood by the hatch, still in his flight suit just came off his CAP.

"Sorry to interrupt"

Bill turned to face his son and stood.

"You didn't, we're done" he said with a smile. He turned back to Kara and pointed at the stack of files again,

"You'll do great, Starbuck"

"If you're after flight schedules, I've only done tomorrow's one" she quickly said as soon as Bill disappeared behind the closed hatch.

"That will do, thanks"

Lee sat where his father was before and folded his arms in front of his chest, a smile formed on his face again, he couldn't seem to erase it that day.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Kara slammed the piece of paper in front of him.

"Every second of it" he grinned at her.

"Watch it, Lee"

"I couldn't feel my arm when I woke up this morning and I found a wet patch on my tanks, I assumed you were drooling. Paperwork seems to be a suitable repayment, don't you think?" Kara's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. _Drooling?_

"I'm joking, Kara!" he laughed as he grabbed the piece of paper and started walking towards the hatch.

"Sorry about that night…" Kara didn't exactly know what to say. '_I just wanted to be with you'_? Seemed inappropriate… she mentally slapped herself for blurting out without thinking. Good thing she was able to stop herself before saying anything she wasn't suppose to say. She woke up that morning disoriented, forgetting where she was. It took her a few seconds before she realized she was on Lee's bed… they fell asleep… fully clothed. Lee had gone to work, but she found a bottle of water and her vial of pain killers on the ledge next to their empty glasses.

"It's okay, Kara. It was… nice" he wanted to say that he wished every night he'd fall asleep with her in his arms, and woke up each morning beside her, but it seemed inappropriate. He spent a full five minutes just watching her sleep in his arms that morning, savoring every seconds of it. He had to force himself to leave his bed. As much as his heart protested, he was still the CAG, and the fleet needed him to function.

"About the new pilot training… how do you want to do this?" she quickly asked before the silence settled in.

"You take the theory class, I'll take the field until you're fit to teach. I'll leave the assessment to you. Is that satisfactory?"

"You're overworked, Lee" she warned him.

"No one else is fit to give the field training until you're back on duty"

"Then give the extra CAP to someone else. The pilots need their CAG. They can't count on you fully if you're exhausted and overworked"

"I can handle it"

"Have you looked at yourself lately?"

"I said I can handle it" he tensed and suddenly became defensive. Both stopped talking and stared at each other, wishing their lives could be simpler… a lot simpler.

It was another knock on the hatch that broke the silence. Both Kara and Lee cursed silently as they found out that the one who knocked was Sam.

"Sorry I'm late" he blurted. _Twenty frakking minutes late!_ Kara growled mentally.

"Anders, don't forget where you are" Lee warned him.

"Yes, sorry Sir" he snapped into position.

Lee paced towards the hatch with flight schedule in hand, not wanting to be in the room any longer. Kara just sighed, trying her hardest not to snap at Sam, he was only there at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

"Here's the document you needed" he indicated at a folder in his hand, his medical file from Cottle.

Their breakup made things a little tense between Sam and Kara as well, she almost forgot how breakup could be like… more reason why she needed a bit of time for herself, to recuperate.

* * *

><p>When night fell Kara found herself staring at the empty bed where she had slept in the night before. Lee was not back yet. Her curtain was drawn closed, with a little gap left opened so that she could keep an eye on Lee. She longed for his warmth against her skin, the heartbeats, the breathing rhythm falling into sync with hers, his scent, the security of being in his arms.<p>

Karl had turned in after checking up on her earlier. He had been on recon mission and was unable to see much of her, but she was thankful that he made the time to see her. The rest of the pilots, however, didn't seem to know when to stop talking. Kara tuned most of it out, until Lee's name was mentioned followed by Dee's.

"Yeah, that was one hell of a fight" Kara recognized Kat's voice, but didn't know what they were talking about. _What fight?_ She wanted to know more, but a growl came from Karl's bunk.

"Shut the frak up! Take the gossip elsewhere! Some people are trying to sleep!" Karl barked at them.

As the pilot moved out of the room, Lee walked in. _Finally. _She somehow felt much more peaceful knowing that he was home and safe. _Safe?_ Who was she kidding? They were in a battlestar, in the middle of a war. Safe was a luxury. But she felt safer with Lee close by, and was finally able to close her eyes and let sleep took over.

Lee laid awake, was still unable to sleep. Kara was right, he was overworked, his mind was constantly on the move despite the exhaustion the body was undergoing. He turned to his side, staring at the dark curtain, but in truth he was looking past that, and straight at Kara's sleeping form. He could almost hear her breathing. No matter… just knowing she was there had calmed him down. _Unbelievable._ The woman turned his life upside down, and yet, he still craved being with her.

* * *

><p>Karl woke to the sound of grunting and struggle, he frowned as sleepiness was still overriding his system. Forcing himself awake, he listened. At first he thought someone was being inconsiderate to their bunk mates, but soon realized it was a sound of nightmare… Kara's nightmare. <em>Not again!<em> It had been two weeks since the last nightmare, the longest period without it, he'd have thought that it may not return.

As Karl approached the front of Kara's bunk the grunting stopped. There was a sharp intake of breath followed by quiet sobs replacing the struggle. Karl sighed, he hated that this was happening to her, that she kept reliving her experience over and over again in her dreams. At least it wasn't as frequent as the first few weeks. Their bunk mates were either ignorant, heavy sleeper, or use to the situation. Slowly, he put his hand on the edge of her curtain and pushed it open a little.

"Kara… it's me" he whispered. He waited until she turned to face him before he put his hand on her arm, letting her know that he was there.

"You're okay… you're safe" he whispered again until her breathing regulated.

Karl heard movement from behind him and realized that Lee had gotten out of bed. There was a look in Lee's face that made him realized how heartbreaking it was for Lee to witness Kara in that state. It wasn't the first time Lee had woken up to Kara's nightmares. When Karl wasn't around, Lee would be the one to comfort her. He'd ask what it was about, but every time he'd get the same answer, she didn't want to talk about it. Not even to Karl. He only knew what the farm was and that she was there, but Karl never found out what actually happened to her in there.

Karl shook his head, telling him to go back to bed, especially that Lee was in desperate need for more sleep than anyone else. When Karl turned back to Kara, she had pushed her blanket aside and propped sat on the edge of her bunk.

"Thanks, Helo. I'm fine now" she whispered, trying not to wake anyone. She turned her gaze to Lee who was still watching her, eyes full of worry, she smiled at him and whispered again, "I'm okay, go back to bed" before she stood and walked to her locker, putting her track pants on.

"Where are you going?'

"I can't go back to sleep, I'm going to take a walk. You two go back to bed"

Lee watched as she disappeared into the hallway, Karl took a deep breath before he went back to his bunk, knowing she'd be okay. Lee, on the other hand, couldn't go back to sleep as well, and decided to go after her.

By the time Lee reached the hallway, she disappeared already. He had an idea where she may be at and headed towards the mess hall.

"Look, I know it's hard… You still love her, I get that. But you gotta pull yourself together. You're going to be a pilot, if you let this affect you, you're done for" Lee overheard from outside the door.

"I know… I know…" Sam sighed in response. Lee's eyes widened as he listened.

"You knew this would happen. I think it was only decent of her that she ended things with you and not let it dragged out" the other person said again. Lee assumed she was one of the resistance fighters as he didn't recognize her voice.

_Was that… Did Kara and Sam split?_

"She didn't waste any time… beaten by the almighty Starbuck… hey, it could be worse. We could still be stranded on Caprica"

"I wonder if it had anything to do with Apollo" the other person paused, "I heard rumors that Apollo and Dualla had a fight, they ended things. Seems like Starbuck was the center of it"

"Who knows… she woke up screaming his name and kept calling for him when I first visited her in life station" Lee heard his heavy breath as Sam leaned back on his seat.

Lee had heard enough, there was a little spark of hope after the new bit of information he heard from that conversation. He backed his way where he came from, clearly Kara wasn't there anyway, so he headed to the second place Kara may have been in.

"Evening… Captain" Galen greeted him, looking a little confused as of why Lee was at the hangar deck at that hour.

"Evening Chief" he greeted back, eyes looking around the almost empty hangar for the blonde beauty, but she was nowhere to be found, not even by her own viper.

"Ka… Starbuck didn't come this way, did she?"

"Sorry Sir, I only just got here, is everything alright, Sir?"

"Yes, thank you, Chief" he darted out towards the hallway again.

_Gym, maybe?_ Before long he arrived at the gym and found it empty. By then he had ran out of ideas and finally started to feel tired. Given his body had been alert for quite sometimes by then, Lee took advantage of his tiredness and headed back towards his bunk.

_Save it for another day_, he cheerfully thought.

* * *

><p>To be continued<p>

* * *

><p><em>I hope you enjoy it :) <em>

_I've finished writing next chapter, but it's still needing finishing touches, so I'll post it as soon as possible._


	8. Chapter 8

_Finally finished editing this chapter... phew! _

* * *

><p>"So… what were you doing out there this late?"<p>

"I could ask you the same question" she grinned at the Old Man, while they both shared a knowing look. Sitting on his comfortable couch at that hour for a social call was a special occasion. The Commander had seen Kara by her viper, only minutes before Lee came looking. She had that yearning look Bill recognized all too well, and decided to invite her in for a chat.

Bill chuckled, he took a seat next to her and set two glasses of whiskey Kara liked so much on the table.

"I know you're still on medication, but I also know it doesn't mean a thing to you" he slid the glass over to her side. He had carefully measured the amount to a sum that shouldn't do any damage to her. Kara beamed and gladly took the glass into her hand.

"You sure know me, Boss" she added a smile.

"How are you doing?"

"Ah… you know… Good, I guess. Trying to adjust being a handicap… again" she remembered her time when she was on crutches.

"You'll be back in top shape in no time. Now… I heard something about a certain Captain"

Kara's heart almost stopped when the Commander mentioned it. _Oh gods._

"C-Bucs Captain is fine" she tried to hide her nervousness, and hoped that he wasn't talking about the CAG. Bill let out a light laugh and took a sip out of his glass.

"I heard you left him. I hope this is not going to affect him being under your Command"

_How did he know? Oh wait… of course he knows!_

"If he makes pilot that is. But I won't let it interfere" she assured him.

"It's not you I'm worried about, it's him"

"He'll be fine, if now, I'll remind him who's in charge" she took a sip from his glass.

Bill leaned back, pressing his back to the couch, at least she had relaxed a bit more.

"So, was it the nightmare again?" he asked carefully. The sudden sullenness in her face confirmed that he had guessed right.

While Kara didn't talk to Karl or Lee about it, she had, in confidence, talked to the Commander about her experience at the farm. Perhaps it was the father figure in him that she needed, the confirmation that she'd be safe and protected under his wings. Bill would take a walk before turning in most nights, usually just to have a feel of his ship. But on one particular night he found her below the wing of her viper, staring at the underside of it. When she didn't respond to his call, he approached her, thinking she had hurt herself and no one was around to help, but he realized the horror in her eyes when he laid eyes on her. It was something he could never explain to anyone if asked. Horrified, he took her in, and it took a couple more weeks before she finally started talking about it.

"It was slightly longer this time" she said, her thumb made circles on the clear glass, while her eyes fixated on the amber liquid in it.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She took a deep breath before she looked up at the fatherly eyes of his, and shook her head,

"I'm okay this time, I think. I just haven't had it for awhile, and I've grown used to it. I think I made Apollo and Helo worried though"

"I'd imagine they would"

They talked a little longer about life in general on Galactica, just something to take Kara's mind off things. Bill too, enjoyed talking about daily life, it wasn't something he got to do very often.

Upon leaving, he gave her a hug, a gesture Kara appreciated very much.

_Maybe it isn't so bad… _Bill thought as he closed the hatch after Kara left. He saw the spark of life in Kara's eyes every time Lee was in the topic of their conversation. The attraction between them was so great that he could almost feel the electricity flowing through them, even when they were apart. Still, a part of him couldn't let go of Zak. He shook his head before turning out the light, and stopped himself thinking too much about the situation.

_I'm too old for this._

* * *

><p>Kara was proud of herself for being on top of the mundane desk job tasks. By day twelve she was used to it, and by some miracle her paperwork was actually a few steps ahead from Lee. She was off the pain killers, and she was doing well.<p>

Perhaps not seeing much of Lee for almost two weeks had helped her compose herself a little better. He was still pulling double CAPs and taking the nuggets out for training, the only time she saw him was during reports time and sometimes just before she turned in. How he pulled it off, she never knew, but she noticed the change in him. He was somehow lighter, he was more patience, and more playful, which made his brief visits to the CAG's office for her reports more pleasant.

"I need…"

"Schedule" Kara handed a stack of paper to Lee before he finished her sentence.

"Yeah…" he flickered through the pages, "Wow! The whole week's worth?"

"Have you done the…"

"Nuggets training reports" she handed a brown folder. Lee took it from her hand, speechless. When she handed another one in, he frowned, confused, to be more accurate.

"This week's pilot training programs for you to approve" she told him.

He raised an eyebrow and added the folder to the pile in his hand.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done to Starbuck?" his confused look still intact. He barely recognized his workstation anymore.

"You hate paperwork" he told her.

"Still do. That's why I do it as fast as I could"

"I could get used to this" he grinned.

"Yeah, you're dreaming" she snorted. Her paperwork may be a few steps ahead, but she could only maintain it for a short period of time. Well, it was mainly because she was bored out of her mind, and there was nothing to do but paperwork and nuggets theory class.

"I'm done for the day" she told him as she rose from her seat.

"Oh, yes… of course. Thank you" Lee was still baffled by it. He watched as she turned and walked towards the hatch. He missed her, and wanted to talk to her, he had been waiting since the day he found out about Sam and Kara's breakup, but being a decent man, Lee waited, and kept his distance, giving her the time and space she needed to be by herself. He took a deep breath before he plunged to his next move.

"Kara…"

She didn't say anything, but she stopped to face him with a questioning look.

"Would… would you go to dinner? With me?"

She gave him an uncertain look and took a step closer towards him.

"What are you talking about? I'll see you in the mess hall anyway" she gave a nervous smile.

He ran his fingers through his hair, and down to the back of his neck. _This is harder than I remembered._

'No… I mean out of here… dinner out, off Galactica"

She frowned this time,

"I don't think it's a good idea, Lee. I'm sure Dee would be a good company" she bit back the bitterness. She had heard bits of rumors, which she assumed had something to do with the pilots' curious gazes, that she had caused a rough patch in Lee and Dee's relationship. She didn't know to what extent, as no one told her anything when it came to the topic, and Karl was in the dark about the matter.

This time it was Lee who frowned, confused by her answer.

"Huh? I thought you knew… well, seems like the entire ship know about it"

"About what?"

"Dee and I are over. It has been for about two weeks now"

Kara's heart skipped a beat. _So that's the fight Kat was talking about, _she remembered parts of the conversation she heard. _I'm an idiot! How did I miss it?_ She soon connected the dots and realized why the pilots were curious.

"I'm sorry, Lee. I heard bits about it, but I didn't know the full story. No one told me anything. Are you okay?" maybe it was the reason behind Lee overworking himself, she thought.

"I'm fine. It ended before it even started. Are you? I overheard the other night that you left Sam"

Kara nodded, she knew Karl wouldn't say anything, so Sam must have been talking about it to his friends. There was a moment of silence between them before Lee moved closer to her.

"I'm fine. It was a long time coming" she answered.

"Come to dinner with me?" he repeated the question.

Kara's mind worked overtime to calculate the right answer to that question as his blue eyes pierced into hers. He was asking her out… on a date… _A date!_

"Only because you asked nicely" she slapped on Starbuck's trademark grin and walked out before he could see her face turned red. Lee couldn't help but smiled, which stayed for the rest of the day.

_Maybe there is a chance after all, _their mind said.

_Only because you asked nicely? What the frak, Starbuck? _She mentally slapped herself.

With some luck they'd survive the date without killing each other…

* * *

><p>To be continued<p>

* * *

><p><em>Okay, I'm a sucker for chivalry, courting and the lot, I'm trying not to show too much here, but I just couldn't resist the temptation of Lee asking Kara out on a date. <em>

_Anyway, it's coming to that busy time of the year, and I have several projects going at work at the moment. So my next update/s **may** take longer than usual. Sorry about that. Will post again as soon as possible :)_


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello again! :) Thank you very much for reading and the reviews. _

_It has been busy at work... so please bear with me while I'm trying to balance work and play :)_

_Anyway, to recap, Lee finally asked Kara out on a date, and they may need a miracle not to frak it up and end up killing each other instead... would they, really?_

* * *

><p>"Don't do this" she heard his plea.<p>

Kara's eyes focused on Lee's, sweat bead trailed down her temple, lips pursed together tightly. His hypnotic blue eyes were uncertain as he faced the barrel of her gun from a few feet away.

"Put your weapon down" she heard another voice, but her surrounding had turned into a blur as Lee became sharper.

"We can figure a way out" the voice said again, she recognized the voice, but at that moment she couldn't make out who it belonged to. Her mind worked over time to keep Lee in her eye line.

"Do you trust me?" her gaze locked onto Lee's. There was a moment of silence before Lee finally answered.

"With my life"

Within moments, her hand tightened, squeezing the trigger, and a deafening loud bang followed.

* * *

><p><em>20 hours ago<em>

"Dinner huh? The man finally asked?" Karl was almost in disbelief.

"It's just dinner, Helo" Lee finally approached her that morning with the dinner plan. Kara almost thought he had forgotten since he asked her about a week ago.

"There's no 'it's just dinner' with you two"

"Do you really want to play that game?" she gave a light punch to his shoulder.

"It's just dinner" she said again.

"Uh-huh… keep telling yourself that"

"I will! It's just dinner"

"Yeah… yeah…"

"Helo!" she gave a warning snarl.

"You're putting out all your good clothes and doing your hair… the dinner isn't until tomorrow" his smirk soon disappeared as Kara threw a pillow hitting him square on his face.

"Starbuck!" he protested and threw the pillow back at her.

"Where's he taking you anyway?"

She stared at her almost bare locker for a moment and turned to her friend with a growl.

"Cloud Nine" she whispered.

"Where?"

"Cloud Nine" she said it louder. Karl's eyes widened at the answer.

"Nice" he added a teasing tone, she didn't need to specify where, but he knew Lee meant business if he was taking Starbuck for wine and dine in style aboard Cloud Nine.

"What was he thinking? Did he seriously think I brought my whole wardrobe here? How am I supposed to find a dress?" the smirk returned to his face as he watched her panic.

"You do realize this is definitely a date, right?"

"Helo!" she growled again, "Be useful and find me a dress" she wasn't going to wear the same dress as Colonial Day, she cursed inwardly. And yes, she was well aware that it was a date, but she refused to acknowledge it, just in case it didn't go to plan.

"As you wish" he mocked a bow at her. Kara managed to hit him with a pillow again before he disappeared behind the hatch with a laugh. She didn't actually expect him to go find her a dress, but when he did, she let out a sigh of relief that at least she was getting some help. She'd need a miracle to pull this off.

* * *

><p><em>15 hours ago<em>

Kara woke up to find Lee's bunk already unoccupied, and there was a slight disappointment hitting her in the gut. But she soon beamed when she found a note slipped into her locker.

'_Have a wonderful day. I'll see you tonight' _in Lee's hand writing.

A small smile formed in her face, she put the note back in her locker and grabbed her gear, getting ready to face the day.

"Morning, Starbuck" she didn't realize she had started walking towards the CAG's office until the Old Man greeted her she almost tripped over. She gave him a smile and a good morning.

_Good morning indeed._

* * *

><p><em>6 hours ago<em>

"Captain" Cally handed a post flight check list to Lee. He was still sitting in the cockpit of his viper after finishing his CAP.

_Hot shower… get ready… _his mind trailed off to his plans for the night.

"Thank you Cally" he handed the clipboard back and added a smile before sliding down the ladder. Cally couldn't help but to notice that constant upturn of the corner of his lips, it had been there since he entered his viper that morning.

"Captain" Kat approached him before snapping into position.

"Walk with me, Lieutenant" he motioned for Kat to follow.

"I trust that you have everything under control for the next twenty four hours?" he asked as they made their way to the CAG's office. The young woman nodded.

"Yes Sir"

"Good, you don't need to do anything more than making sure everything run as they are supposed to"

"Yes Sir. Starbuck has given me the rundown on everything"

They stopped as they reached the front of CAG's office. Lee turned to face her, still unable to hide that little hint of happy smile on his face.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. That will be all. Report back here in three hours"

Kat watched as the man closed the hatch and couldn't help to wonder about the smile both Starbuck and Apollo couldn't seem to erase that day.

* * *

><p><em>2 hours ago<em>

"Three more days" Kara whispered to herself as she stared longingly at her viper. Three more days until she'd fly again, she could hardly wait.

There was that anticipation building from the pit of her stomach, though she may had confused it with the nervousness of going on a date… dinner with Lee Adama. She took a deep breath, it had been awhile since she went on a date, and even though she was tempted to wear her usual getup, Lee had threatened her with more paperwork if she dared turning up in her combat boots and pants. Starbuck didn't date very well, it made her nervous.

"Do you want to see what I've got or are you just going to stand there?" Karl's voice started her. Turning her face towards her friend, her eyes trailed down and spotted the black bag in his hand. The two immediately rushed into the officer's quarter. She said a silent praise as Helo came through, especially after she spent quite a bit of time trying to find a dress but had no success.

"How much time do you have?" Karl asked as he handed her the bag.

"About forty minutes before I have to board the shuttle. You're cutting it close, Helo"

"You're welcome" he grinned at her, "Are you going with Lee?"

"Nope, I'm meeting him there, I need to find a dress, remember?" she eyeballed him.

"I don't know how you managed to get the dress and I'm not sure I want to know" she commented as she took her boots off.

"Oh relax… I just borrowed them off someone who owed me a favor" he took a seat on a chair nearest to her bunk.

"Since when do you keep tabs on favours?" she opened the bag and reached inside.

"Since you need this very much for your non-date-dinner" and perhaps because he knew deep down she was nervous, a little push may help.

She was going to make a smart come back, but soon stopped as her hand came in contact with a delicate fabric. So smooth… so soft… she lifted it up and gasped at the sight of it.

"Alright, my duty is done. Have fun, Starbuck. Don't worry, I won't crash your date… unless you want me to" he added with a playful tone.

"Oh I'm hurt... don't you have faith in me?" she shot a glance at him as he grabbed his bag and headed for the hatch.

"Have fun, Starbuck" he repeated.

"Thanks for helping, Helo. Have a good break"

"Oh, there's one more dress in there" he motioned towards the bag.

"No, this is perfect" she commented on the one she already had in her hands.

* * *

><p>"How do you feel about them?" Laura waited until the raptor carrying Kara left the deck before she asked. Bill raised an eyebrow at her, both of them were aware of the new update on the Starbuck-Apollo situation. The rumor mill was quickly filled with theories and predictions, and there was a pool going on too… whether they'd frak or they'd send one or each other to sickbay.<p>

"What, are you my therapist now?"

Laura chuckled, she knew the Commander had a hard time adjusting to it.

"I'm just saying, those two lit up the room like fireworks when they're together, and they're as intense while apart. I wonder if they even knew"

"Probably not. They've dance around each other for awhile now" to him it was a good thing. He may feel selfish about it, but he wasn't entirely ready to see Lee took place of his late son in Kara's life. She gently touched the Commander's arm and offered him a comforting smile.

"I'll be okay… thanks for worrying" he quickly said.

"She's happy" Laura referred to Kara.

"And I can see that Lee is too… I haven't seen him this happy for awhile" Bill knew he'd have to let them be.

"They'll be fine, you know… they'd be a strong pair"

"Or they'd kill each other" the Commander added. Laura took a moment before she nodded in agreement, then burst into a small laugh.

"Oh gods, we're gossiping"

Bill too, let out a small laugh. _One day at a time, _he mentally told himself. Maybe today he wasn't ready, but tomorrow he might be a little closer to being okay with it. She looped her arm around Bill's as they walked away.

* * *

><p>"Lee Adama! Fancy seeing you here" Ellen threw an arm around Lee's shoulders. He cringed at the touch, remembering the disastrous dinner at his father's quarter.<p>

"Evening… Ellen" he nodded politely.

"So what brings you here?" she squeezed onto Lee's arm as he stood uncomfortably. He slowly moved away from her grasp.

"I'm meeting someone" he quickly answered.

"On a date?"

Before Lee could answer a voice answered for him,

"He's here with me, Ellen" he thanked the gods that he could finally get away from her.

"Kara?" there was a slight confusion on her face, but she quickly recovered, "Oh my dear, how lovely to see you" Kara threw her a smile as she stepped in to stand next to Lee.

"You two enjoy your time here. I'll see you around" she winked at Lee before leaving them alone.

Lee let out a nervous laugh before he turned to face his date, but soon stopped in motion and almost forgot how to breathe as he laid eyes on the blonde beauty in front of him.

"Wow"

* * *

><p>To be continued<p>

* * *

><p><em>Sorry if there is delay to my updates, as at the moment I'm dedicating my time and energy for my work projects. _

_I hope you enjoy it. Next chapter is on final edit state, so hopefully I'll get to post it very soon._


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you for the reviews! :) Always happy to read them :)_

_Originally this was split across two chapters, but after reading it again, I decided that it would work better as one chapter, hence why it took me longer to edit._

**_Spoiler_**_: I'm borrowing the situation and dialogues from ep. Sacrifice to carry this story through, but it's heavy on Kara and Lee's p.o.v_

_And as I've mentioned in one of the earlier chapters, time line of the story is different than the show - in this story Sacrifice happens after Lay Down Your Burden (which also means that Dee and Lee got together by other means), Sharon is still pregnant during the rescue mission, Adama is still a Commander (because they didn't meet with Pegasus) and they haven't found New Caprica._

_So picking up from where we left off in the last chapter..._

* * *

><p>"Wow"<p>

His eyes trailed her from top to bottom, tracing each curves. The dress Karl picked fell gracefully on her, clinging to the right parts of her body, down to just above her knee, while the cowl back exposed the smooth milky skin Lee was dying to touch. The dress was in a shade of deep green with a touch of turquoise on the rim. He had seen this side of Kara before, on Colonial Day, but when he thought he could spare himself from feeling like a boy on puberty, he was wrong. She once again, took his breath away.

"What? Did you really expect me to turn up in my combat boots?" she cursed silently at the pair of heels she was wearing, they were highly impractical.

"Keep dreaming, Apollo. I'm not taking more paperwork" she glided towards him and placed a hand on his arm.

"You're early..." _gods, Lee! Say something else!_ He frantically looked for words. Kara eyed him, but didn't comment on it, she was early, and quite frankly was hoping to get a drink to calm the nerves before he got there, but being Lee, he'd turn up early too. When Karl thought that she was nervous, he was right. Kara got ready in record time and ended up hitching an earlier ride with Karl. Perhaps seeing a familiar face calmed her down, but of course she didn't admit that.

"Gods, Kara… you look stunning" he finally regained control of himself. At least it wasn't a stupid comment. And to that, she smiled. Keeping his cool, he led her to a small high table. Starlight Lounge was busy that day, and it made her wonder if any of those people realized that they were in the middle of a war.

"I'll get us a drink" he smiled, their hand clung a heartbeat longer before he moved away towards the bar. Kara watched as he disappeared into the crowd. She couldn't help but to laugh inside, after all these years of tip toeing around each other, they were finally doing it right… or at least she'd hope.

"I thought that was you" Kara's eyes widened as she recognized the voice.

"Sam" she turned to face him with a smile. His reaction wasn't too much different from Lee's and she took it as a compliment.

"Wow, Kara. You look amazing" he let out a nervous laugh. Kara managed a smile as he gave her an awkward hug. He didn't look too bad himself, groomed nicely, he was stunningly handsome in a suit, she thought.

"What brings you here?" she asked, and then noticed the pyramid ball in his hand.

"Ah… well… believe it or not, some fans invited me. I didn't even know there's a fan base here" he sheepishly showed his signature on the ball then she followed his gaze to a table where his fans were.

"They even sent this… tailor made" he indicated to his suit. How words got out that he was amongst the survivors, who knew.

"A bit creepy, don't you think?" she threw a glance to the table full of young women.

"A little" he admitted, "But I couldn't exactly turn them down, especially after they went through all the effort"

"How about you? What brings you here?" he quickly asked.

"Oh, I'm with…" Kara didn't have the chance to finish her sentence before Lee came back with their drinks in hands. The two men locked gaze for a moment before Sam offered his hands.

"Good to see you, Apollo" he should have guessed they were together, Sam's mind told him. Lee gave him a firm handshake before saying the same. Sam wasn't surprised to see Lee there with her, he had heard the rumors, and had seen how they looked at each other, there was no room for him in her heart as it already belonged to Lee Adama... at least she was honest about it.

"Well, it's good to see you. Have a lovely evening" he offered a smile before returning to his table.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked as he saw her gaze followed the other man back to his table.

"Yeah… it just surprised me, that's all" she shook her head, and took a sip of her drink. Sam was a decent man, she thought, and she was glad that she let him go before she hurt him.

The two chatted for awhile, having had time before they needed to meet their dinner reservation. Kara couldn't help but to talk about the nuggets, she blamed it on her being nervous... well, not quite, she just didn't know how to act on a date with Lee, they've spent so much time dancing around each other that they had gotten used to it, she was careful, she didn't want to frak this up. Lee listened intently as he absorbed the beauty in front of him, he had been waiting to take her out for quite a long time, and he was more than happy just to have her there with him.

The lounge quickly filled up, and Lee's gaze eventually fell at the woman by the door as he scanned the room out of habit. He frowned as his eyes focused on the unnatural bulge on her waist.

"What is it?" Kara noticed the sudden change. Lee nudged towards the woman. Kara discreetly gave her the once over before cursing under her breath.

"She's packing" she whispered.

"And she's not alone. There are two men with her"

"Uh… make that three, Apollo. One more around the back, moving towards the front" she informed him.

_Great, I'm finally on a date with Lee Adama and we get this?_ She was pissed off. But she realized how they reacted, and laughed in the inside, not surprised. _Really? We need a crisis to get us started? There are plenty of that back on Galactica!_ Her mind cursed again.

"Bathroom's this way, Starbuck" he offered his hand. She nodded and followed his lead, taking her drink with her, she was going to need that.

Closing the door quietly behind her, Kara moved along to check the rest of the bathroom.

"Clear" she came back next to Lee, taking a peek. Just as they thought, the lady gave a warning shot and ordered everyone to gather by the bar.

"You don't have a gun on you by any chance, do you?" Lee had to ask. Kara shot him a glare.

"You're the one who threatened me with paperwork"

"And miss out on you in a dress?" there it was again, the playful side of Lee Adama. She rolled her eyeball when Lee kept staring.

"Do I look like I'm packing?" she indicated at her dress. Lee gave a knowing smile, and she sighed, putting her drink aside, and lifting one leg up and rested on the edge of the metal trash bin nearby. Lee swallowed as she gave him an exclusive view of her slender leg. Slowly and gracefully, she took out a knife that was strapped to her thigh, and left him breathless for the second time that evening. Oh, she knew perfectly well what effect she had on the man, and she enjoyed it.

"Seriously? Did you expect me to attack you or something?" he eyed the blade, it was one of her concealed combat knives, this woman was not to be messed with, Kara could do extensive damage with it, but he knew that already.

"Just in case someone piss me off and needs a lesson" she smirked. _Note to self, disarm Starbuck before pissing her off._

"Just so you know, this isn't exactly what I had in mind for our date"

"Oh yeah? So... what is it like? A date with Lee Adama?" she teased him with a smile while she played with the knife in hand.

Lee took a deep breath as he moved closer to her, placing his fingers on her arm and made a long, gentle stroke towards her palms.

"You'll just have to wait and find out" Kara's knees almost gave out as she laid eyes on him, there... she saw everything she ever wanted. All she needed to do was to grab hold of him and never let go, and the only thing standing between her and him was the situation outside.

"So did you want it or not?" she referred to the knife, as much as she'd like to continue with the teasing, they had a hostage situation outside. Taking her cue, Lee blinked and shook his head.

"Keep it, they are less likely to search you" he started going along the wall. Kara put the knife back where it came from and took her heels off, it was impractical, it made noise when she walked and she couldn't move as fast.

"Starbuck" Lee called out as he took a panel off from the wall.

"Pass me the drink" he indicated towards Kara's drink. He was already inside the gap between the walls.

"What are you doing?" she passed on the drink.

"I need the dry ice… I'm trying to get these clowns to open the door for us"

"The O2 sensor" she caught on fast. She nodded and told him to go while she stayed at the door, keeping watch.

"Please! Don't shoot! My husband is XO in Galactica. You're making the worst mistake of your life" Kara could hear Ellen. Her fist tightened, _Damn it! Keep your mouth shut!_

"Found out what they want yet?" Lee asked as he came back to her side.

"Big mouth Ellen just gave herself away as the XO's wife" she squinted her eyes and listened more carefully as the woman made a phone call.

"They want Sharon or hostages die" she added.

"No way in hell Dad is going to give them that" he commented.

"How the frak did they even know about it?"

"Dad has been gathering intel from the Cylon prisoner for awhile now. I'd say someone spotted her in transit"

* * *

><p>"You have two hours" the woman ended the phone call.<p>

Bill put the handset down, his eyes showed exhaustion his body was carrying. He feared that this may happen.

"Get me anything you can on Sesha Abinell"

"Yes, Sir" Gaeta got to work immediately.

Only a moment passed before he turned back to the Commander with a folder in hand.

"Sesha Abinell… fleet record indicates she's the widow of a Ray Abinell, he was a casualty abroad the Greenleaf freighter when the Cylons hit about ten weeks ago" Bill flinched at the word "widow".

"Who do we have abroad Cloud Nine?"

"Rotation schedule says Captain Adama, half a marine squad, Starbuck… and Helo is already there on R&R"

"Get me Apollo right away" hoping that he wasn't in the lounge.

"Yes Sir"

Bill sighed, his XO anxiously stared at him, waiting as they tried to get in touch with Lee.

"Sir… Apollo is unreachable"

"Starbuck?" he had to ask, despite the fact that he knew what the answer would be.

"Unreachable as well"

"Get me Helo"

"Are you sure that's wise?" Saul warned him.

"It's not ideal, but we are running out of time. I trust Helo will handle it just fine"

* * *

><p>Lee studied the situation, it wasn't good, they were outnumbered and outgunned.<p>

"I think you should get out there" Lee broke the silence.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"It would be safer for both of us if we're not here together. If they know we're both military…" He didn't need to finish his sentence before Kara got the idea, she sighed and tried to think of something else.

"Trust me, Kara" he squeezed her hand. She turned to him with a glare.

"The woman spotted us together earlier, if I go out, she'd be looking for you" her voice softened.

"Sooner or later they will anyway. It's better if only one of us is made"

"Fine. But the moment things get ugly, I'm not staying put" He expected nothing less from her.

"Look scared, Kara… no matter how much you'd like to deck them, look scared"

Kara sighed, _so much for a date_. She picked up her shoes. She didn't want to get out there, but they didn't have that many options. She turned to those magnetic blue eyes and her world melted once again. She realized then, how much she cared for the man, and how far she'd go to keep him safe. With one sure movement, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss to Lee's surprise. _Screw the date_. They didn't need one to know that they wanted to be with each other. Lee instinctively brought his hands to her jaw, and kissed her back, hungry for more. Her tongue darted and teased his as he welcomed the playful attack.

"Don't do anything stupid" he whispered between kisses, it took all his might to tear away from her inviting lips. She chuckled and set her palm on his cheeks, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers while struggling to get her breathing back to normal. For a moment they stood there, foreheads against each other's.

"Be careful" she whispered back before letting go. She tossed her hair a little, something Lee never thought she'd do and frowned at her.

"What? If they're going to come looking for you, did you really want them to think we're here having a chat?" she glared at him. But he just laughed and shook his head.

"Gods, you're beautiful" he involuntarily let that one out. Kara noticed the sincerity of that comment and her heart fluttered.

"Safe the compliments for later" she gave him one more quick kiss before she moved out of the bathroom with her hands up high, shoes in hand.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" she shouted, trying to look scared as the men pointed their guns at her.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded answer.

"I… I was in the bathroom…" Kara noticed Ellen about to say something, but Kara glared her down, silently telling her to keep her mouth shut. She crouched on the ground next to Sam as one of the men with gun pushed her towards the crowd.

The woman known as Sesha studied her and looked towards the bathroom then back at her.

"She's not alone. There is another man. Page, check the bathroom. We don't want anymore surprises" she told one of her men.

Kara's gaze followed Page into the bathroom before she turned back to the woman. She saw something familiar in her eyes, it was the same look Darius had in his eyes when he made the attack.

"This is Captain Adama from Galactica. He wanted to talk" Page came back out from the bathroom, hands in the air as Lee held a gun to his head.

"That's right... just talk" Lee repeated what the man said as they inched closer.

Kara kept her head down, not wanting to give away the anger that was boldly displayed on her face, but the woman pushed one of the men's gun towards her.

"And you are?" she threw the question at Kara.

"She's my date" Lee answered. Sesha nodded at the man holding the gun on her, and he moved closer to Kara.

"She dies, he dies, you get that?" Lee told her. Kara felt Sam's hands on her shoulder as he glared the man with the gun.

"The difference is that you wouldn't shoot, he will" Sesha said again.

One look into her eyes and Lee knew she meant business. With a sigh, he took his finger off the trigger and put his hands up in the air as Page took the gun back.

"Okay…" Lee muttered, and took the space next to Kara.

"Plan B?" Kara whispered.

"We wait"

* * *

><p>"Good to see you, Gunny. I need some of those gorillas you called marines" Karl greeted the big man and his two comrades.<p>

"Most of my gorillas are already here. Trying to get some R&R"

"Tell me about it" he sighed. He was worried, knowing that Kara and Lee might be in the lounge. He hoped that they have moved onto the restaurant, but for them being unreachable wasn't a good sign.

"So here's what we know..."

* * *

><p>Lee said a silent praise as a beeping alarm sound blared through every corner of the lounge.<p>

"Oxygen is through the roof" Kern, by then known to be the brother of the late Ray Abinell pointed out as he turned the beeping sound off.

"They're trying to suffocate us"

"What is this? A trap?" Sesha demanded answers.

"There's a reason why you don't just start shooting at a space ship. You've probably nicked a line. Why don't you let me talk to the Commander, and see if we can figure a way out of this" Lee answered calmly.

After a moment of silence, Sesha nodded,

"Get me Commander Adama. He won't pick a Cylon over his own son"

* * *

><p>"Son of a bitch!" Karl cursed as he learned that Lee was inside, which would put Kara in the lounge as well.<p>

"Sitrep"

"Sir, I had one of the Cloud Nine techs to check the oxygen feed in there, there's nothing wrong with the air " Karl answered quickly.

"Could be a glitch"

"Or it could be someone screwed with the sensor"

"Lee… but why?"

"He gave us an opening. If I could get someone in there, we could get a clear idea what we're dealing with"

"Helo, this is a recon mission. Get someone to volunteer, and then get the hell out of there, do you understand? There's a strike team inbound to you, ETA ten minutes"

"Yes Sir"

Karl eyed the technician who just came in, the first thought was that the man was shorter than him, but surely there are other uniforms around somewhere.

"I'm here to repair the O2 line" the man told him.

Karl extended his arm, asking for the toolbox.

"What are you doing?" Gunny asked.

"I'm volunteering"

* * *

><p>"So what? Your husband died, and you're taking your anger out on innocent people?" Lee sought Sesha's eyes.<p>

"He was a good man" Kern told him.

"Yeah? My team mates, they were my family! They all died on Caprica. They are good men too" Sam was quick to answer. There was regret in Kern's eyes, everyone in the room were familiar with the pain of losing someone dear during the attack.

A loud knock startled the hostages. Kara noted the door switch as the door slowly opened, and quickly diverted her attention to the main the cream overall she soon recognized as Karl walked in. She could feel Lee tensed as he squeezed her hand involuntarily at the sight of Karl. She didn't blame him, she tensed too. _What if they know who Helo is? His connection to Sharon? _She hoped that they didn't know, and if they did, she hoped they didn't recognize him under the black cap and the one size too big overall.

"You might not want to do that, you're losing oxygen in here" he told the man as the door was rolling down again.

"Then you should work fast" Sesha answered, letting the door closed again.

"Check him"

Karl kept quiet as he scanned the room while he was patted. Kern checked his toolbox before returning it to him.

"Do your job"

Karl walked towards the back, keeping his head down, hiding his perfect posture by adding a slight slump, while the oversized overall hid his well built figure. In truth, he was fighting every urge to shoot every single one of them. One look from Ellen Tigh was all it took for Sesha to doubt him and demanded one of her men to check the box again.

_Shit! Did they recognize him?_ Kara's mind jumped to the worst case scenario. But when she laid eyes on Ellen who suddenly had a guilty look on her face, she knew what happened. _Maybe not._

Karl sat the box down on a high table and opened a secret compartment, revealing two guns. Kara saw it coming and grabbed the woman beside her to duck. Both Lee and Sam hit the ground at the same time as soon as the first gun fire broke. With all men focused on Karl, Kara turned to Sam, hand clutching on the front of his shirt.

"The ball" she told him, eyeing at the door switch. Sam followed her gaze and nodded. As soon as he had a clear shot, Sam delivered a throw, ball hitting the switch on the right place, causing the door to reopen.

Gunny and two marines entered the facility and a gun fight broke loose, taking Chu who was at Karl's tail down. Kara lunged forward as Page aimed at Gunny, swiftly taking her knife out and threw it at him, piercing his thigh. Enraged, he picked up his gun and aimed at her.

"No you don't!" Karl pressed his gun on the back of his head and stopped him in his track.

"Starbuck!" Gunny called out as he slid a spare gun towards her. Kara leaped and got to it just after Sesha took a shot at Gunny. She missed, hitting him on the leg instead. Kara dropped a table and provided cover for him as he tried to get himself out of the premises.

Kern's shot took a marine down, while Sesha kept shooting at Gunny, but soon was knocked out by Lee. Kern followed suit, knocking Lee with the back of his gun. As he went down, Lee elbowed him in the gut before bringing his fist up to meet his nose. Lee managed to hit Kern on the base of his head and took him down before securing his weapon.

"Put your weapons down! You are surrounded!" Karl shouted while keeping his gun on the wounded Page. He scouted for the marines, but only saw their dead bodies on the ground. He prayed for the strike team to arrive soon.

"Starbuck?" Karl called out without taking his eyes off Page.

"I'm okay, Helo!" she shouted back from her hiding spot.

"Gunny?" she called out.

"Still here" he answered from outside.

"Apollo?" Karl still keeping his weapon on Page as he started lowering his weapon.

"I'm good" he brought Kern to his feet, and by doing so he missed the movement behind him.

"No, you put your weapons down or he dies" Sesha pressed her gun to Lee's head. One side of her face was red from Lee's punch earlier and there was blood on her cut lip.

Kara stood from her hiding spot, and raised her gun at Sesha, who by then had stood behind Lee. She inched closer to have a better aim at her, not that she could take the shot without hitting Lee as well. Kern had taken his gun back from Lee's hand and by then had pointed it at Kara.

"I have no doubt that you will pull that trigger, Abinell. But are you willing to do that before you get the Cylon?" Kara's voice was cold, and her eyes held a certain air that sent chill down Sesha's spine as she laid eyes on them.

"You have lost, give it up" Lee's voice was softer, "We all have lost people we love in this war" he added.

Sesha stayed quiet, all that needed to be said had been said earlier. Kara caught a glimpse of tear in the corner of Sesha's eyes, and worry splashed across Kara's face, alerting Lee of the situation.

"Don't do this" she heard his plea.

Kara's eyes focused on Lee's sweat bead trailed down her temple, lips pursed together tightly. His hypnotic pair of blue eyes was uncertain as he faced the barrel of her gun a few feet away.

"Put your weapon down" Karl warned them again. When Sesha didn't budge, Karl took a step forward, by then Page had let his weapon go.

"We can figure a way out" his voice was more of an assurance, but he knew that look on Sesha's face, he had faced that look only weeks earlier in a form of Darius Harmon.

Kara too, knew Sesha would shoot, she knew it didn't matter anymore if they get the Cylon or not. Sesha was aware that she was fighting a losing battle, and if she couldn't get the Cylon, she'd make sure the Commander would pay for it in his son's blood. She would have proven her point anyway, that the Cylons had successfully ripped apart the human fleet. Lee's eyes frantically darted to Kern, but Kara already knew that Kern wouldn't need a sniper's skill to hit Kara from where he was standing. If she shot Sesha, not only she'd take Lee down, but Kern would take the shot on her. She was well aware that both of them could end up dead.

Her surrounding turned into a blur as Lee became sharper. She knew what she needed to do. They trained for this, they were ready for this. Lee met her gaze and silently wished there was another way, and those blue eyes begged her not to do what she was intending to do.

"Do you trust me?" her eyes locked on Lee's. There was a moment of silence before Lee finally answered.

"With my life"

It was all she needed. As Sesha moved, Kara didn't waste time, her hand tightened, squeezing the trigger, followed by a deafening loud bang. Screams filled the room. Karl's gun went off next, taking Page down as he was grabbing his gun. As the man went down, Karl spotted Kern, and he knew he'd be too late.

Another gun fire went off. Karl didn't dare to look. He knew Kern had a solution on Kara and he would not miss the shot.

* * *

><p>To be continued<p>

* * *

><p><em>I hope you enjoyed this. It was much harder for me to write, but I had fun with it.<em>

_Next chapter may take a bit longer as I still have a lot of editing to do on it and I'm still quite busy with work._


	11. Chapter 11

_Thank you for reading and the reviews :) Happy to read them all._

_Sorry for the delay on updating, work had been quite hectic._

* * *

><p><em>No! Kara! <em>Karl wanted to scream but his voice never came out. He saw Kara pulled the trigger before both Lee and Sesha went down. His finger squeezed the trigger the moment he saw Page reaching for his gun… then he saw Kern… Karl's eyes involuntarily shut when another gunshot was fired. No, he didn't want to look, because what he'd find would shatter his heart into pieces… his bestfriend… _No! For frak's sake, Karl… open your eyes, damn it!_

Slowly, trembling, he braced himself for a scene of bloodshed, finger on the trigger, ready to fire again, and he opened his eyes…

_Is that it? Am I dead? Well, this sucks… Where was the 'your life flashes before your eyes' moment? _Kara listened, there was only silence and darkness, until she heard a thud. _That can't be right._ She frowned, and soon realized her eyes were shut.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and the chaos in front of her came to focus. The thud came when the last man hit the flood dead. And suddenly she heard screams around her. _I'm still here?_ She recognized the place, it was Starlight Lounge without a doubt. She looked down to herself, the gun was still in her hand, while her other hand was touching her body, trying to feel for any wounds, but there was none, and there was no blood visible. For a moment she felt like a stranger in her own body until she realized the truth.

_I'm alive! I'm frakking alive! How?_

She lifted her head to find Sam's worried look on her, followed by a deep breath as he saw that she was unharmed. Kara was still stunned, looking at Sam, who held a gun in his hand. He turned towards Gunny who was by the door then, he had thrown his gun towards Sam, thus enabling him to shoot Kern down just in time before he could take the shot on Kara.

"Thank you" Kara managed to say, she almost didn't recognize her own voice. Sam smiled at her before he turned towards Gunny and moved outside.

Kara stepped forward towards where Sesha had fallen, extending her arm. Karl gasped as Lee's hand met hers and she pulled him up. He let out a deep breath he didn't know he had been holding, followed by a nervous laugh that teared up his eyes, relieved. _They're alive!_

There was blood on one side of Lee's cheek where the bullet minutely grazed his skin. Sesha's hand was clutching on Lee's shirt when she fell, bring him down with her. He looked back to find Sesha's lifeless body on the floor. Blood pooled around her from the gunshot wound. Kara's bullet had narrowly missed Lee, but had not missed its target, it hit Sesha's head with a stunning accuracy… it was a shot only Kara could pull.

"Sorry about that… I…"

He didn't let her finish, his hands pulled her in, closing the gap between them as his lips crashed onto hers. His hands held her tight, as if she'd perish right in front of him. Something inside him stirred to live as they connected, he knew it was right.

"Don't apologize" he whispered as he moved and held her in his arms.

Kara clung to him before she broke the embrace and scanned the room assessing the damage. Sam was still outside, tending to Gunny's wounds, while Karl had started on rounding the newly freed hostages and calmed them down. Lee started to check on the lying bodies, confirming their deaths as the strike team entered the lounge.

"Sir, we have Helo on the line"

Bill took a moment to look at his XO before taking the call.

"Sitrep"

"Starlight Lounge is secured"

* * *

><p>Anders was seen walking down the hall with Kat when Lee walked back towards the officer's quarter. The Commander had requested every single personnel involved in the Cloud Nine situation to report individually, and Sam was due for his. Making a pass at Kat, he nodded, and Kat turned towards Sam before saying something and picked up her pace, leaving the two men alone in the hallway.<p>

Lee didn't say much at first, but he sought the other man's eyes and offered his hand.

"Thank you" the two words held gratitude that only Sam could understand. They both loved Kara Thrace, and both were willing to put their lives on the line for her, as she did that night. Sam's hand met his in a firm handshake.

"Make her happy" were the words Sam said as he let go of Lee's hand and moved away from him. Lee watched as the man picked up his pace to catch up with Kat. Sam couldn't have put it any other way, he loved her and wanted her to be happy, and if Lee Adama was the one person to give that happiness to her, then so be it, he'd wish them all the best.

* * *

><p>"So much for not crashing your date" Karl plopped heavily on Kara's bunk.<p>

"Tell me about it. You brought the whole party there" she tsked him.

Karl tilted his head as he looked into the pair of hazel eyes in front of him.

"You took a big risk, Kara" he finally said, his voice turned serious.

"You knew I could pull it off" she quickly replied in her defense.

"I know that, and Lee trusted you with that… but that wasn't what I was talking about" he gave her a knowing look. Kara took a deep breath and moved closer to him.

"She was going to shoot Lee… I couldn't let that happen" she was prepared to die if it was to save Lee's life, and deep down Karl knew that.

"You scared the hell out of me"

Kara held her gaze at him, she didn't blame him, she'd feel the same if it had happened to him or Lee.

"It didn't happen... I'm here… alive" she assured him.

Karl sighed as he messed her hair and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. The two laughed a little before they let go of each other. Kara stood and took her stash of the Chief's brew out of her locker, and poured herself one before offering him.

"Not for me, thanks. I'm going to see Sharon" he smiled as he stood and walked towards the hatch. Kara grabbed onto Karl's arm as he went past her.

"Thank you, Helo… I know it must have been hard… Send my regards to Sharon" she wasn't sure what caused her change of heart on Sharon, but it didn't go unnoticed by Karl, who appreciated it very much.

The two had relied on each other countless of times, and this time it was no different. They grieved over the loss of lives together, they supported one another, and they went through tough times knowing they'd be there for each other even if everyone else turned on them.

She turned to stare at the clear liquid in her glass as Karl walked out. Her foot tapped the cold floor in such rhythm that her hand started tapping the side of the glass accordingly. As she wondered what took Lee so long, her mind flew back to her report to the Commander regarding the attack. He was happy that they came back safely, but horrified to find out about the decision and action she had to take. Yes, he was the Commander, but he was also a father.

As she got up to look for Lee, the hatch opened, and the man walked in.

"I was just about to look for you" she commented.

"Ah… sorry, got held up" he pointed at the bandage on his cheek. She cringed as she remembered the sight of the wound only a couple of hours ago. Cottle said that it may leave a little scar, but wouldn't be noticeable.

The two stood quietly, it only just crossed their minds that they had not had the chance to talk properly about the shift in their relationship. _Where to from here? _

"Kara…"

"Lee…" they spoke at the same time. They went quiet again for a heartbeat.

"Lee… I don't…" she cleared her throat, "I don't need a date to know that I want to be with you" she finally said. She almost slapped her own mouth for blurting out, but after it settled, she didn't regret it. It needed to be said. His eyes widened at the statement before a smile appeared on his face.

"Good… because I don't think I can wait that long"

No further words needed to be exchanged, both knew how they felt for each other, and both knew they'd be there for one another. It was silly that it took them this long and two near death incidents to bring them together.

Lee extended his arm, offering his hand, and this time Kara took it, putting herself in his arms where she belonged. They shared another kiss, but this time it was different than the earlier ones they shared, it was gentle, reassuring… loving. Their tongue danced once again and whispers of the long overdue "I love you" were shared between kisses.

Lee broke their contact only to go place a pair of boots on the other side of the hatch, before returning to Kara, to finally come home. This time there was no uncertainty, there was no doubt, they belonged to each other, and they knew it... it felt right.

* * *

><p>"So… who wins the bet?" Racetrack asked as she stared at the pair of boots outside the officer's quarter.<p>

Kat folded her arms in front of her, studying the situation. Gaeta mimicked her movement and let out a breath he had been holding.

"Well… they're frakking" Kat commented. Skulls who stood behind them nodded in agreement.

"And he ended up in the sick bay" Racetrack reminded her. There was silence between the group again as they stared at one another.

"I bet they won't last a day before they have a go at each other again" Hotdog broke the silence. All turned to face him, then to Gaeta. He shrugged.

"Place your bets!"

**Fin.**

* * *

><p><em>Thank you so much for following this story, I hope you enjoy it. I had fun writing it :)<em>

_Sorry again for the delay on this chapter, I actually finished it a couple of days ago but didn't have the chance to go online and post it._

_Reviews and suggestions are warmly welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thank you again ^^_


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